Author name: Deep Foundations Institute

Luca Barison Tanner Blackburn, Ph.D., P.E. DFI’s membership voted to elect two new members to the DFI Board of Trustees. Their terms begin on January 1, 2026. The newly elected trustees are Luca Barison, Nicholson Construction Company, and Tanner Blackburn, Ph.D., P.E., Keller. Luca Barison is the senior vice president of strategy and business development […]

President’s Award Winners Peter Kandaris, Lorraine Engleman and John Anderson. DFI President James Johnson presented three President’s Awards during a special luncheon at the DFI 50th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations in Nashville on October 22. Established in 2016, the President’s Awards are selected at the discretion of the DFI president to honor individuals whose

Mickey Westbrook John McKinnon Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) announces new chairs for two technical committees. Mickey Westbrook is the new chair of the Augered Cast-in-Place and Drilled Displacement Pile Committee. Vice president of Specrete-IP Incorporated and a Kent State University graduate, Westbrook brings more than 13 years of experience in the deep foundations industry. He

Song Qin receiving award from Rudy Frizzi, chair of the Trust Song Qin, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, is the winner of the DFI Educational Trust Student Paper Competition. His paper is titled “Investigation of Vibratory Hammer Installation for Deeply Embedded Ring Anchor System in Sand.” Song presented his paper at DFI’s 50th Annual Conference on

Abstracts are being accepted until Monday, December 1, 2025, for original technical papers and panel sessions for DFI’s 51st Annual Conference on Deep Foundations (DFI51) being held November 2–5, 2026, in Orlando, Florida. The theme of the conference is “Sea Level Impacts: Navigating Challenges Together,” focusing on the multifaceted challenges and profound global implications that

Kord Wissmann, Ph.D., P.E., BC.GE, founder of Intechnics, is the recipient of DFI’s highest award bestowed to an individual, the Distinguished Service Award (DSA). This award recognizes individuals who have made exceptionally valuable contributions to the advancement of the deep foundations industry. The award is being presented at the DFI 50th Annual Conference on Deep

The winner of the DFI 2025 Outstanding Project Award (OPA) is the Lyrik – Air Rights Parcel 12 in Boston, submitted by Haley & Aldrich. The award is being presented at DFI’s 50th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations in Nashville, Tennessee, October 20–23. This is the first successful air rights project constructed over the Massachusetts

Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) and the Electric Power Systems Foundations Committee have released a new committee report, Design and Construction of Deep Foundations to Support Electric System Transmission Lines State of the Practice. This state-of-practice report gathers into a single document the diverse deep foundation investigation, design and construction practices the power industry uses in

Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) and EFFC (European Federation of Foundation Contractors) have released the new, free, EFFC/DFI Guide to Working Platforms, 2nd Edition. This updated guide is packed with insights to improve safety and standards in the design, construction and management of working platforms in the foundation industry. According to Peter Faust, Dipl.-Ing., of Malcolm

Rick Deschamps, Ph.D., P.E., vice president of Nicholson Construction Company, has been selected as the 2025–2026 Traveling Lecturer. Known as a giver of advice and solver of problems, Deschamps will travel and present a series of lectures to university students, professional groups and industry associations. He is available, on request of DFI, to present lectures