2024
- Dr. Osamu Kusakabe, Professor Emeritus, Tokyo Institute of Technology
Dr. Osamu Kusakabe has significantly impacted the internationalization of geotechnical engineering in Japan and Asia. As a key member of the IPA since its foundation in 2007, he served as President from 2016 to 2019 and is currently the Executive Director. During his tenure as President, he reorganized the association’s structure by establishing the Steering Committee and five Standing Committees, and by enhancing the frameworks of Technical Committees. He also organized the First International Conference on Press-in Engineering in 2018, systematized IPA award programs, and expanded membership. His work has also fostered young geotechnical engineers through his leadership in various organizations and teaching roles at several prestigious institutions, greatly contributing to the field’s development.
- Prof. Tatsunori Matsumoto, Emeritus Professor, Kanazawa University
Professor Tatsunori Matsumoto has made significant contributions to pile foundation engineering and geotechnical research. He joined IPA in 2012, serving on the Board of Directors and served as Vice President from 2019 to 2023. He chaired the Research Committee from 2017 to 2018 and, as Chair of the Organizing Committee, led the Second International Conference on Press-in Engineering in 2021, which attracted 59 papers and 430 participants. He also published Case History Volume I in 2019, showcasing global press-in piling projects. Through his lectures and mentorship, Professor Matsumoto has disseminated Press-in Piling Technology and nurtured young geotechnical engineers, significantly advancing the field and contributing to the growth and influence of the IPA.
2021
- Dr. Masaaki Terashi, the Advisor of GIKEN LTD. and Director of IPA
Dr. Masaaki Terashi played a central role of writing and editing “Design and Construction Guideline for Press-in Piling” in Japanese in 2015 and 2020, also “Press-in retaining wall: a handbook”, in 2016 and 2021. Without his contribution, these publications would have not been materialized. He also significantly contributed as one of four authors to the publication of “New Horizons in Piling” from CRC Press in 2020.
2018
- Mr. Akio Kitamura, the Executive Chairman of GIKEN LTD. and the honorary president of the International Press-in Association
Mr. Akio Kitamura invented the world’s first Silent Piler, noise and vibration free piling machine in 1975. Through innovation over the last 40 years, considering environmental, spatial, and geological constraints on pile installation, he made the impossible, possible. He also took initiative in the creation of the IPA as international community of the Press-in Engineering.
- Late Mr. Yasuo Kakiuchi and Mr. Takaharu Kakiuchi, Former and current chairman of the Kakiuchi Ltd.
Late Mr. Yasuo Kakiuchi dedicated to materialize the idea of Silent Piling proposed by Mr. Kitamura in 1970s. Since then he and his successor Mr. Takaharu Kakiuchi have played an essential role of producing a series of Silent Pilers which helped a wide acceptance of Silent Piler in piling works in domestic and overseas projects.
- Dr. Malcolm David Bolton, Emeritus Professor of the University of Cambridge, Ph.D. and a FREng.
Professor Malcolm David Bolton has contributed to the advancement of the Press-in engineering through various research activities for a long period of time, including Cambridge-Giken collaborative research projects since 1994. He has also contributed to the International Press-in Association as the first President for 10 years since IPA was founded in 2007 at the Churchill College, University of Cambridge.
The Award Ceremony in 2018
