Message from the Chairman

Transcription

1 No.1 Jan. 20, Message from the Chairman Welcome you all to this ACECC newsletter! Time flies. We last met in Jakarta in August 2013 and now is already the beginning of Nobody will disagree that CECAR 6 in Jakarta was a successful conference. During the last three years, ACECC has been growing tremendously under the able leadership of Professor Dradjat Hoedajanto and his team from HAKI. While we are looking forward to another prosperous year, it may be time for us to look back to enjoy what we have accomplished. We have organized 6 successful CECARs and ACECC is growing healthily. CECAR 1 was held in Manila in 1998 with only three member societies: ASCE, JSCE and PICE. CECAR 2 was held in Tokyo in 2001 with two more member societies, CICHE and KSCE. In 2013, ACECC is composed of eleven societies with the latest addition of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB). We now have a fully functioning secretariat under the leadership of Dr. Kenichi Horikoshi of JSCE. In addition to Dr. Kenichi Horikoshi as the Secretary General, the leadership of ACECC is composed of myself as the chair of the Executive Committee, Dr. Udai P. Singh as the chair of the Planning Committee, Mr. Potenciano A. Leoncio Jr. as the chair of the Technical Coordinating Committee, and Dr. Edward Wang as the Deputy Secretary General. Of course, the support of Ms. Meggan Maughan-Brown, Director of International Relations of ASCE, is crucial for the effective functioning of the leadership. CECAR 7 will be hosted by ASCE held in Honolulu, Hawaii from August 31 to September 2, Dr. Udai P. Singh has kindly accepted the challenge and responsibility as the chair of organizing committee. Suggestions for the conference from member societies will be highly appreciated. 1 I would take this opportunity to remind member societies of the objectives of

2 ACECC again: To promote and advance the science and practice of Civil Engineering and related professions for sustainable developments in the Asian region To encourage communication between persons in charge of scientific and technical responsibility for any field of civil engineering To improve, extend and enhance such activities as infrastructure construction and management, preservation of the precious environment and natural disaster prevention To foster exchange of ideas among the member societies/institutions To achieve the above objectives, international conferences called Civil Engineering Conference in the Asian Region (CECAR) will be held on a triennial basis as the main activity of the ACECC Only with a thorough understanding of our objectives, we can make strides to accomplish them. The Executive Committee, the Planning Committee and the Technical Coordinating Committee will meet in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. in March While we are consolidating our current membership, we are also expanding our membership. Therefore, we are inviting potential members to be observers at the meeting. We are going to tour the venue of the upcoming CECAR 7 and to discuss important issues including possible amendments to the constitution and by-laws, changes in the membership due structure, establishment of rules/guidelines for travel subsidies to attend ACECC meetings, among many others. Moreover, there will also be a technical program being organizing by the Hawaii Section of ASCE also marks the 100th anniversary of JSCE. ACECC members will be glad to take part in the memorial event of celebrating the accomplishments of JSCE. Therefore, there will be technical programs associated with the meetings of Executive Committee, Planning Committee and Technical Coordinating Committee to be held in Tokyo, Japan in November Last but not the least, may I take the opportunity to wish everyone a prosperous and successful 2014! 2

3 Message from the CECAR 7 Local Organizing Committee Greetings from the Local Organizing Committee (LOC)! Preparations are underway for the 7th Civil Engineering Conference in the Asia Region (CECAR 7). The dates are set: August 30 to September 2, The venue is set: Hilton Hawaiian Village, in the Honolulu metropolitan area, Hawaii. The contract with the hotel has been signed. In fact, ACECC s next Executive Committee meeting (ECM) in March 2014 will be at the same hotel. The theme of the conference has been finalized: Ho- omalamalama: Building a Sustainable Infrastructure in the Asia Pacific Region. Ho- omalamalama is a Hawaiian term that means to brighten, illuminate, enlighten, or inform. CECAR 7 will enlighten conference participants and others on strides made in sustainable civil engineering infrastructure applicable to the Asia Pacific Region. Knowledge dissemination will take place in research as well as practice areas. The plan is to conduct a limited number of special sessions, short courses, and workshops on 30th August, We will also have several technical and social tours available all day. The main part of the conference will be held all day on 31st August and 1st September, and till 12:30 PM on 2nd September. This will include a plenary session with keynote speakers each early morning followed by concurrent technical sessions the rest of the day. Technical and social tours will be offered on the afternoon of 2nd September. A dinner banquet is being scheduled for the evening of 1st September. 3 The LOC is busy preparing a preliminary list of technical tours and writing contents for the CECAR 7 website ( It is also working with the technical Institutes of the American Society of

4 Civil Engineers (ASCE) in planning some technical sessions. While the call for papers (abstracts) will not be issued till early 2015, the LOC is compiling a list of sessions to be organized from outside of the call for papers. Some of these sessions will come from work being performed by ACECC Technical Committees. Others will come from sessions proposed and organized by ACECC member organizations. LOC is requesting each ACECC member organization to propose and organize one or two sessions that will include four or five paper presentations per session, not from the CECAR 7 Call for Abstracts or ACECC Technical Committees. Please to the LOC Chairman (Udai.Singh@ch2m.com) the proposed session(s) title, a very brief description of the proposed session(s), and the point of contact from the member organization. The members of the LOC are looking forward to meeting with the ACECC delegates at the ECM next March in Hawaii. Happy New Year! Dr. Udai P. Singh Chairman, LOC 5

5 Meeting in Hawaii Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) to the USA Visa Waiver Program travelers are required to apply for and receive an approved travel authorization via ESTA to board a plane or vessel bound for the United States. (A travel authorization via ESTA is not a guarantee of admission into the United States. Travelers must establish their eligibility for the program during inspection by an officer at a port of entry.) In most instances, ESTA applicants will receive real-time notification on the disposition of their application to travel to the United States. Applicants denied an ESTA will be advised to apply for a visa at the nearest U.S. consulate or embassy. For more information, and to apply for a travel authorization, see ESTA. In the case of ACECC delegates, the ESTA system will work for those coming from Australia and Taiwan. All other delegations will need to apply for a visa to enter the USA from their local US embassy. For that purpose and to facilitate entry, ASCE and ACECC will supply letters of invitation to members of each delegation. We will need the following information for the letters 1. Name of the person travelling must comply with what is shown in the passport 2. Passport Number 3. Birth Date 4. Work address 5. Home Address Send application for letters of invitation to ASCE- mmaughan-brown@asce.org ACECC- kenichi.horikoshi@acecc-world.org 5

6 Information about the hotel in Hawaii The next meeting of the ACECC Executive Committee will be held in Hawaii from March 6 9, Hotel Details: Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort 2005 Kalia Road Honolulu, HI Telephone: Fax: Room Rate Resort View Single: $229 Resort View Double $ All rates are subject to applicable tax, which is currently 13.96% per room, per night and is subject to change without notice. 2. The Hotel will extend the group rate for three days before and three days after the room block dates, on a space availability basis. 3. Reservations will be made by each delegate. All delegates are responsible for their hotel room changes and incidentals. 4. The hotel will supply a secure link to their registration system so that all delegates will be able to make their own reservations securely. 5. The cut - off date for securing the group rate is Tuesday, February 11, Check-in time is 2:00 PM Check Out time is 11:00 AM 6

7 Transportation from Hawaii International Airport SpeediShuttle Airport Transportation SpeediShuttle is an on demand shuttle service provider at the Honolulu airport and has greeters stationed throughout the terminals. They are also the only airport shuttle that can drop off and pick up guests in the Main Hotel Lobby at the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort. Cost of Transportation using SpeediShuttle 1 guest 2 guests 3 guests 4 guests 5 guests 6 guests 7 guests 8 guests Arrive (from Airport) $14.55 $29.09 $43.64 $58.19 $72.73 $87.28 $ $ Depart (to Airport) $13.60 $27.19 $40.79 $54.38 $67.98 $81.57 $95.17 $ Baggage Fees Two bags per person plus one carry-on, No Charge. Each bag over the two per person limit, $8.00. Golf Bags, $ Charley's Taxi Charley's Taxi provides general taxi service and is located at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. They offer several different options for transportation to and from the airport as well as around Honolulu. For reservations and information visit their website at 7

8 GOP to Tap Private Sector Consultants, Experts and Constructors for Typhoon Haiyan Reconstruction Efforts POTENCIANO A. LEONCIO, JR. Chair, Technical Coordinating Committee Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council The Government of the Philippines (GOP) has created the office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (PARR), a top level body headed by former Senator Panfilo Lacson to act as the over-all manager and coordinator of the rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction efforts of government in the areas affected by super typhoon Haiyan (locally named Yolanda), including the devastation caused by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the adjacent provinces of Bohol and Cebu, just some three weeks before Haiyan s landfall. In a Memorandum Order signed by President Benigno Aquino III, Lacson with the rank of a secretary, can call upon any government departments, bureaus, offices, agencies, and instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations, government financial institutions, and local government units in the implementation efforts. PARR may also request non-government organizations, the private sector (consultants, experts, contractors), and other entities for assistance as the circumstances may warrant. PARR held its first public forum on 30 December 2013 at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati City, which was attended by 8

9 government officials concerned and leaders of civic and professional societies and non-government organizations, where Secretary Lacson, Professor Danilo Antonio, and urban planner Architect Felino Palafox, Jr served as resource speakers. Officers of ASCE Philippines also attended the forum. In related developments, ASCE President Randall Over and Executive Secretary Patrick Natale, in a letter to Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) President Romeo Momo, have extended their sympathies to the victims of both disasters, while the ASCE Philippine Section, headed by President Dr. Ernesto de Castro, Ph.D., Immediate Past President Dr. Armando Cazzola, PhD. and Executive Director Engr. Potenciano Leoncio, Jr., also expressed their concerns and offered to support PICE s leading role in the enormous rehabilitation task and to extend assistance in whatever way the Section can be of service to the reconstruction efforts. Likewise, Asian Civil Engineering Coordination Council (ACECC) Secretary General Dr. Kenichi Horikoshi, Ph.D. expressed his deepest sympathy in a letter to President Momo and offered assistance to PICE s rebuilding efforts, adding that one of ACECC s purpose is to help victims cope with disasters. In the same light, President Dr. Jesse Chern of the Chinese Institute of Engineers and Past President of the Chinese Institute of Civil and Hydraulic Engineers, wrote the PICE President regarding the great concern of the Taiwanese people for the devastation caused by typhoon Haiyan. Dr. Chern, former Minister of Public Construction Commission PCC in Taiwan, who served as CEO, Morakot Post-Disaster Reconstruction Council, Executive Yuan proposed to organize a one-day workshop to share their experiences in reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts with the said typhoon. Dr. Chern also served as Chair of the ACECC Executive Committee from 2004 to 2007 and hosted CECAR 4 in Taipei in

10 Message from ACECC Secretary General Kenichi Horikoshi, PhD Taisei Corporation As the ACECC Secretary General, it is my great pleasure to deliver a message on the first issue of the ACECC newsletter. ACECC was founded in September 27, 1999 with the initial 5 societies/institutions: ASCE, PICE, JSCE, CICHE, and KSCE. Since then, the activities of ACECC have been broadened by adding further 6 members. The development of infrastructures in Asian countries has been very rapid, although the degree of the development is different country by country. There are a number of issues where we can share our knowledge, experience, and technologies for the development of infrastructures in Asian countries. I believe that ACECC can be one of the strong bodies which can provide the framework of our collaboration. I, myself, have been working for ACECC since its preparation stage of the 2nd CECAR (Civil Engineering Conference in the Asian Region) which was held in Tokyo, in 2001, and observing the ACECC development with my own eyes. After more than 10 years since its foundation, the ACECC Continuous Secretariat was set up in Tokyo after the 6th CECAR, and now I am in charge of the Secretariat office. By taking the advantage of having the Continuous Secretariat, I, together with the ACECC Chair and the other staff, would like to make ACECC more active, more global, and more recognized both in engineering fields and in public. To this end, I would like to emphasize the following ACECC activities as a starting point: 1) Invitation of new members to ACECC: Considering the rapid development stage of Asian countries, it is quite necessary to make more strong collaboration at this timing. We would like to invite new members to ACECC from all over the world. 2) Establishment of the document control system: 10 Efficient document management is one of the reasons why the continuous

11 secretariat office was established. Our activities should always be updated. However it is also true that we should not forget the original philosophy of ACECC despite ongoing generation change. Based on this concept, all the minutes of ACECC meetings so far are stored on the ACECC website, so that new members can refer to them at any time. 3) Strengthening ACECC financial management: Since the establishment of the new secretariat office, Financial Committee Meeting (FCM) is to be established. The fund of ACECC will be used more efficiently to strengthen the ACECC activities. 4) Promotion of ACECC TC activities, Activities of ACECC TCs (Technical Committees) are one of the most important aspects of ACECC, since they deal with technical collaboration within Asian countries. ACECC established 18 TCs so far, and among them, 8 TCs are operational. We need to make the outcome of these TCs more open to those who may need in the world. For this purpose, ACECC website will be often used for transmittance of the outcome. 5) Promotion of human networks among front-line civil engineers, as well as academia-industry-government relationships: As an engineering organization, we will place importance on what front-line civil engineers are seeking for through the human networks. Furthermore, one of the most characteristic aspects of the ACECC is that ACECC will strengthen human network not only in an academic field, but also industrial and governmental fields. Through academia-industry-government relationships we will create a better world. We would like to focus on these policies in any ACECC activities. 6) Communications and public relations The activities of ACECC should be more well-known and shared among world-wide engineers. We will promote strong relationships with other similar engineering organizations in the world, such as WFEO. Newly published ACECC newsletter is one of the tools to transmit ACECC activities to the world. We would like to issue this newsletter quarterly. The above ACECC secretariat policies are just the base of ACECC activities. Under the ACECC Chair and Executive Committee, we would like to operate the ACECC Secretariat more timely, more flexibly, more efficiently, and more effectively 11 for further development of ACECC.

12 ACECC Member Status Organization Member No. Established since ASCE 140, CICHE 4, EA 100, HAKI 4, ICE 5, IEB 25, JSCE 39, KSCE 23, MACE 2, PICE 60, VFCEA 5, Note: the information is prepared by Editor Website ACECC Officers Prof. Albert T. Yeung Chair, Executive Committee Dr. Kenichi Horikoshi Secretary General Ms. Emiko Serino Office administrator for Secretary General Dr. Edward H. Wang Deputy Secretary General Dr. Udai P. Singh Chair, Planning Committee Chair, Local Organizing Committee Mr. Potenciano A. Leoncio Jr. Chair, Technical Coordinating Committee Editor: Dr. Edward H. Wang Deputy Secretary General Contact: for any comment and suggestion 12