SYNOPSYS

A good ground improvement method should be based on sound concepts and working principles. It requires the knowledge of fundamental behaviour of soils, the knowledge of various ground improvement techniques, understanding of soil-structure interaction, the knowledge of performance and limitations of available equipment and of course economics. This seminar aims to provide information on the above by presenting on the implementation of ground improvement works in civil engineering projects from the site investigation stage up to the construction stage. Throughout the seminar, real examples of projects completed using various ground improvement methods will be used to illustrate the applications of ground improvement methods in civil engineering projects from the more common embankment constructions to more complex projects like foundations for tank farms and buildings.

BIODATA OF SPEAKERS

Mr. Serge Varaksin, M.Sc.
Serge obtained his master’s degree from Northwestern University Evanston, USA. He joined Menard of France in 1973 and devoted his career in creating the global network of Menard companies specialising in ground improvement works. He has retired from Menard and currently with Apageo as their Scientific Advisor. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers in ground improvement techniques. He is the past-chairman of ISSMGE TC211 on ground improvement and currently core member of TC211.

Mr. Michael Dobie, M.Sc.
Mike is a Geotechnical Engineer with more than 40 years of experience, including 28 years working in SE Asia. He graduated from Bristol University with a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, then a few years later from Imperial College, London with an M.Sc. in Soil Mechanics. Since 1991 Mike has been employed by Tensar International Limited as Regional Manager for Asia Pacific base in Jakarta, Indonesia.  He is a Member of HATTI (Indonesian Geotechnical Society), and Vice President of the Indonesian Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (INA-IGS). He is a Chartered engineer, a Fellow of ICE and a Fellow of CIHT. He is currently the Indonesia Country Representative of ICE.

Ir. Lee Peir Tien, B.Eng.
Ir. Lee Peir Tien obtained his Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) from University of Technology, Malaysia in 2001. He started his career with G&P Geotechnics, a consulting firm specialising in Geotechnical Engineering. He is currently one of the Directors in G&P Geotechnics. He has published more than a dozen technical papers on geotechnical engineering in international and local conferences. He has involved in major infrastructure projects in Malaysia such as Northern Double Track, KVMRT Line 1, East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), KL – Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR), Southern Double Track, etc. He is the Chairman for Geotechnical Engineering Technical Division (GETD) of IEM. He also serves as Committee Member in Malaysian Geotechnical Society (MGS) since 2016.

Dr. Leong Kam Weng, PhD.
Dr. Leong graduated with B.Eng (First Class Honour) in Civil Engineering from University of Malaya, Malaysia. He obtained his PhD from the National University of Singapore. He has more than 20 years of experience in Geotechnical Engineering. He has been active in the design and execution of Ground Improvement projects in South East Asia (ASEAN) for Keller like Exxon Mobil SPT in Singapore and KVMRT project in Malaysia. He is currently the Director of Keller Foundations (S.E. Asia) Pte Ltd and is heading the Ground Improvement business in ASEAN. He is a member of the Geotechnical Society of Singapore (GeoSS) since 2008 and served as committee member since 2012 and Vice President for 2014-15. He is the Immediate Past President of GeoSS for 2016-17.

Mr. Richard Ong, M.Eng.
Richard graduated from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia with a B.Eng. in Civil. He obtained his M.Eng. (Geotechnical) from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has worked in the field of geosynthetics and geotechnical engineering for the past 18 years with companies like Maccaferri Malaysia, Tensar International Limited and Menard Geosystems. Currently, he is the Regional Technical Director for Menard in South East Asia. He is a committee member in the Geotechnical Engineering Technical Division of IEM and Treasurer of the Malaysian Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (MyIGS).

Mr. Sergei Terzaghi, B.Eng.
Sergei has been with Arup since 2009. He has been appointed the Americas Geotechnical Skills Leader and come to build the business in the region. He has over 30 years of experience in all aspects of geotechnical engineering in both Australia and New Zealand and throughout the Pacific Basin. With the breadth of his experience, he provides technical support to Arup projects across Australasia. Sergei is a highly skilled in numerical modelling and has a proven track record in providing realistic answers to complex problems. Sergei maintains his skills at the cutting edge of this field.