In the annual general assembly of the Japanese Geotechnical Society (JGS) held on June 14th, 2022, I was appointed to the 37th president of the JGS, following the immediate
past president, Prof. Mamoru Mimura of Kyoto University.
To the best of my ability, I am determined to devote myself in fulfilling the three aims of
the JGS:
1. Contribution to developments of academic researches and practical technologies
2. Improvement of engineers’ attributes
3. Contribution to the general society
In conjunction with the current “with-COVID19” and “post-COVID19” actions of the JGS, I would like to work on several aspects to follow.
In contributing to developments of academic researches and practical technologies, it is important enhance the JGS activities in relation with sharing relevant information and exchanging opinions. By taking advantage of the newly-introduced remote-access environments, we may hold an online meeting and thus save travel costs and time. In doing so, we will need to review the current status of on-line meetings and to improve their efficiencies.
The above remote-access environments are also useful in improving the engineers’ attributes. In addition to delivering online lectures across the nation, it would become possible to study their contents more in details by allowing repeated access to their archives. On the other hand, in-person meetings may rather be preferred under certain circumstances such as the active discussion sessions during our annual national meetings. By participating the meetings in person, we may enjoy meeting old acquaintances as well.
With respect to contribution to the general society, based on my limited knowledges and past experiences, the following actions would be of significance:
a) Japan suffers from frequent heavy rains and large earthquakes. In case of having underwent natural disasters, the JGS in corporation with other societies shall provide relevant and sufficient information to citizens in a timely manner.
b) Not only disaster-related information but also state-of-practice knowledges on how to cope with our complicated ground conditions shall be shared with the citizens and officers in charge. They shall be also shared with other regions in the world that are facing similar issues,
c) Online publications shall be more enhanced. Potential readers will enjoy easier and quicker access to the books/documents they require. Keyword searching through their digital files will also become available.
Together with vice presidents, board directors and department/branch-office members as well as the administrative officers, I would like to promote the above actions.