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Proceedings of the 18
th
International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013
iii) MOZAMBICAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY
FOR ISSMGE, MAY – 2012
Reported in May, 2013 by Saturnino Chembeze (Secretary)
SMG – Associação Moçambicana de Geotecnia: Av. 25 de
Setembro nº 2526
Telef. 213221 85 Fax 21322186, Maputo – Mozambique
1. INTRODUCTION
The Mozambican Geotechnical Society (SMG) is a scientific
association of individual and collective persons, hereon
designated as Society, with headquarters in Maputo. The
Mozambican Geotechnical Society was founded in 2007 and
has a mandate to promote and facilitate the advancement,
exchange and transfer of knowledge, skills and experience in
the relevant field of Geotechnical Engineering for the benefit of
members and the profession.
General objectives of the Society:
to provide members opportunities to upgrade and update
their professional-knowledge and skills;
to present results of their professional activities, by
organizing events and activities to facilitate
knowledge,
experience and information transfer and exchange;
to promote co-operation among researchers and
practitioners inside and outside of the country;
to organize meetings at the national and international levels
and study visits;
to promote the publication of works, papers, journals and
bulletins;
to promote national representation in the international
institutions and specialized congresses; and
yearly publish a report about the activities carried out by
the Society during the previous year and with suggestions about
actions to be undertaken.
The Society has been developing many activities in the
promotion of their face in the last years. After a successful 15th
African Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and
Geotechnical Engineering (15ARC), hosted in Maputo,
Mozambique, from 18th to 21st July 2011, the society has noted
a significant development, in terms of activities and impact of
its influence in the civil engineering field and in the national
society.
Relationships with other professional organizations have
been developed during these last years allowing some support
for the society. SMG considers that, the relationship with
ISSMGE is a privilege, so this organization is alwais available
to support the society.
SGM is also commited to promote and involve young
engineers and students, to be active in the Geotechnical
Engineering. Cooperation with universities is also one of
important actions that has been carried out throught these years.
The society have been supported Faculty of Engineering with
Geotechnical books for libraries, via sponsor of local companies
to increase the level of students in the faculties, invites studets
for workshops, conferences and other events with total or
reduced fees. It is important to refer that a very useful local
partner company, Tecnica, Engenheiros Consultores, which
always is avaible to support SMG events.
2. Membership Information
SMG members, at the time of completing their membership
form and during the year, are given the opportunity to choose
different areas of interest as their preferences for colaboration.
General Meetings of the Society are not always attended by all
members eventhough promotions, including e-mail reminder,
phone calls, and providing snacks to encourage attendance. The
Society have now 37 members affiliated with the International
Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
(ISSMGE), against 32 in the last year. All fees of members are
paid for this year. SMG has his own finances coming from
sponsors from local companies and feeds membership dues
directly to ISSMGE every year.
3. Activities
To achieve their objectives, the society has been disseminating
results of several researches and always invites engineers to
present and discuss with local technicians their experiences. The
main field of action is Soil Mechanics and Foundations,
although other areas like Rock Mechanics, Geoenvironmental
Engineering, Geosynthetics, Engineering Geology, and others
are discussed.
The core of the Society is to promote classical geotechnical
engineering, to promote the documentation of case histories and
experience of practicing engineers, and to promote and facilitate
the continuing education of our members. This occurs through
the regular technical workshops at the local level, through short
courses, symposia, and interaction with the International
Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering.
During the last few years, the Society organized some
workshops with support of local companies. Some of these
works are indicated below:
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