A 2022 PDCA Board of Directors initiative set in motion the development of the Engineers Driven Pile Institute (EDPI), a program that strives to supplement undergraduate curriculums that may have lacked important pile driving content while preparing today's younger engineers. Industry experts believe that civil engineering schools provide only a limited amount of coursework pertaining specifically to driven pile foundations. EDPI provides content targeted to the engineers who are 2-10 years into their careers, with tools to recommend, design, specify, and/or inspect driven pile foundations, possibly concepts that were not available in their undergraduate studies. In its second year of existence, the EDPI program achieved 100% attendance, signaling an industry embrace of the important curriculum that attracts not only engineers from firms around the country, but also professional project managers from contracting companies, piling material engineers, and geotechs from DOT and other public interest organizations. EDPI took place October 23-24 in Salt Lake City, UT. Returning presenters were noted industry leaders and subject matter experts Pat Hannigan, PE, past president of GRL Engineers, Inc., Van Komurka, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE, also from the firm, and veteran consultant Jerry DiMaggio who has led the geoprofessionals' academy at ASCE. (The three presenters are pictured, together.) |
Attendees at 2024 EDPI provided participant feedback. Sentiments they shared addressed the value of the content they obtained through the two day course.
According to one participant, (I learned) "a lot about the wave equation...and it's interesting to see how it works. Breaking the pile down to a spring mass damper system really helped me think of pile modeling in a different way."
Another said, "It was all very informative and gave me a better understanding about pile driving."
The subject matter experts who presented EDPI even gave attendees guidance on vernacular to use among the project team both in and out of the field, for instance, one participant said "I like, and will use the polite and professional way of telling someone they are incorrect, by instead suggesting that I would offer an alternative approach."
PDCA thanks the 2024 class of EDPI who gained new perspectives and career enrichment over the course of two days of learning. Here are images from the program: