Geotechnical News• December 2019
29
COMPUTING IN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
From the GS Board
6
th
Canadian Young Geotechnical Engineers and Geoscientists
Conference (cYGEGC 2019) -- A Great Success
This is a contribution by the organiz-
ing committee of the 6
th
cYGEGC. It
was written by Vincent Castonguay
)
(co-chair of the conference and the
incoming CGS Young Professional
Representative), and Kathryn Dompi-
erre and Hugh Gillen, members of the
committee.
This past fall (September 26-28,
2019), the 6
th
Canadian Young Geo-
technical Engineers and Geoscientists
Conference (cYGEGC) was held in
the beautiful city of St. John’s, NL.
For the occasion, 34 young engineers
and scientists gathered for two days of
technical proceedings and a one-day
technical tour around St. John’s. The
technical tour began on Bell Island
with a visit to a closed iron ore mine
where delegates were taken under-
ground to get a taste of the working
conditions miners endured a century
ago. The group then proceeded to
Cape Spear, the easternmost point of
continental North America, where pro-
fessor Derek Wilton (Memorial Uni-
versity of Newfoundland) explained
the peculiar geological conditions
found at the site.
Dr. Wilton was one of six keynote
speakers invited to the conference.
Joining him were Mario Ruel (Presi-
dent of the Canadian Geotechnical
Society), Jocelyn Hayley (University
of Calgary), Kent Bannister (TREK
Engineering), Paul Deering (Stantec),
and Pete Quinn (BGC Engineering).
Each speaker presented a topic of their
choice, and provided valuable insights
on their career choices and experi-
ences. A panel discussion allowed the
delegates to ask the keynotes (who
were joined by Wayne Clifton from
Clifton Engineering Group) any ques-
tions they desired. This session led to
some very interesting discussions on a
variety of subjects such as the current
state of geotechnical engineering and
geoscience, and how climate change
affects their practice. It was a curious
turn of events that this panel discus-
sion should take place on the same day
that tens of thousands of Canadians
were marching in the streets to ask for
greater commitments from our govern-
ments to fight climate change. The
delegates seemed to be keenly aware
that the future of geotechnique will be
shaped by climate change, so Wayne
Clifton’s advice for young profession-
als was to get involved in defining
political platforms in order to have a
bigger impact on our profession and
Canada’s future.
In addition to the keynote talks, all
delegates gave a three-minute “eleva-
tor pitch” providing a high-level
description of the poster they brought
to share with the other delegates. The
elevator pitch-style of presentation
encouraged the delegates to practice
summarizing technical work into con-
cise, understandable messages. Given
the smaller size of the conference, it
also offered delegates a more intimate,
friendly environment in which to
present. This is especially valuable for
those that haven’t attended a confer-
ence before, encouraging them to
attend the national conference and giv-
ing them more confidence for future
networking. The elevator pitches
and posters generated lots of lively
conversations - there never seemed
to be enough time as the delegates
always had to be pulled away from the
posters! After the daily technical ses-
sions, the evening activities included
a night at the historical Yellow Belly
Brewery on George Street and a
cocktail reception with the executive
committee of the Canadian Geotechni-
cal Society. This offered delegates a
unique opportunity to meet leaders in
our profession.
6
th
cYGEGC delegates at Cape Spear, Newfoundland. Derek Wilton
(Memorial University of Newfoundland) is in the middle of the back row
Les délégués de la 6
e
CCJGG à Cape Spear, Terre-Neuve. Derek Wilton
ß(Memorial University of Newfoundland) est au centre de la rangée arrière.
