EDITORIAL
As summer draws to a close and students return to schools and universities, our focus turns to the subject of finding and educating the next generation of dredging experts. And the question arises, “what are we doing to draw young people toward our industry?” And once they have joined our ranks, how do we hold onto them? What qualities are we looking for and, vice versa, what are young people today seeking in a career and profession? What makes dredging such an attractive industry that it has held us captive, fascinated and challenged? Dredging awakens curiosity and inventiveness. Dredgers are explorers “finding” new lands of their own creation. State-of-the-art dredging equipment and vessels are busy worldwide. And whilst dredging is a hands-on profession, it has an idealistic side – a side that looks to the future to improve the lives and well-being of people by creating new infrastructure that betters their economic and social circumstances. Over the years, the demands for expertise have widened considerably as the work, and the environment within which dredgers work, has grown ever more complicated. As Professor Kees D’Angremond writes in his article in this issue of Terra, projects are bigger, ships are bigger and dredging companies also need to think ‘bigger’ when looking for their workforce: “Society expects a larger span of control from its engineers, a vision of the consequences of the project, a rapid an adequate response if something unwanted or unexpected occurs”. At a recent dredging conference, the discussion arose with a group of people about how they had ‘found’ dredging, or had dredging ‘found’ them? Several agreed that a career in dredging was not an obvious choice. For some it was a family business, generations before them had been in the industry. For most, however, it was serendipitous – an encounter with a stimulating professor or an enthusiastic acquaintance. The ‘wet’ side of engineering usually came to their attention only years after their studies had commenced. But once they had discovered dredging they were hooked. And with dredging in the news more often than ever – playing a major role in land reclamation projects in Singapore, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as restoration work after the tsunami in Southeast Asia, Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf of Mexico clean up – the industry is drawing more and more positive attention. Each dredging project represents the hard work of hundreds of people: Engineers, dredging masters and their crews, project managers, scientists, researchers, specialists in all areas of maritime construction. Local people who have been employed and trained on site and employees who, sometimes at the drop of a hat, are deployed all over the world. Each project reflects expertise, enthusiasm, imagination, and professionalism. Recently IADC has taken the initiative to assist young people in finding appropriate studies in the maritime sector, as well as to ultimately guide them in finding employment within the industry (see this link). IADC also recognises the importance of rewarding younger members of the dredging community and some years ago initiated the “IADC Award for the Best Paper written by a Young Author” to be presented at selected conferences. In this issue of Terra two papers that received this award are published: One at the PIANC MMX Conference in Liverpool, UK and the other at the WEDA / TAMU Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In both cases, the intelligence, dedication and insights of these young researchers shine through. And we as an industry must be encouraged by their contributions.
Koos van Oord
President, IADC |
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