AFTES 2023 General Meeting and election of new members and officers
18 December 2023On December 12, 2023, the AFTES Annual General Meeting was held, providing an opportunity for the outgoing President to take stock of the work carried out during his term of office.
Work completed
Highlights include:
- Education Committee: The Education Committee, which has grown in size, has drawn up an inventory of the profession's training needs and an inventory of theses in progress (see TES 285), but has also deplored the difficulties encountered by the TOS Master's program in continuing despite the high quality of its training;
- Young members committee: A dynamic committee that has organized numerous meetings, training courses, worksite visits and challenges in France and abroad, attracting a large number of members;
- Materials, Equipment, Products Committee: the Committee has revived the momentum by creating a showcase for manufacturers and suppliers, and by contributing to the organization and success of numerous conferences (WTC, Journées Techniques de Chambéry, etc.);
- Underground Space Committee: this committee is running out of steam and will undergo a strategic reorientation on the transitions dimension; special congratulations to Monique Labbé (former President of this committee) who won the ARVHA 2023 award for all her work and pioneering role.
- Technical Committee: The Committee reviewed the progress of the recommendations, the groups (active and inactive) and identified potential new subjects or those under consideration; a special thank you was addressed to all those who invest in this production activity so specific to the AFTES.
- Congress Committee: a successful 2023 Congress, with attendance very similar to that of 2021; 2957 visitors from 40 countries; a high-quality scientific programme (167 abstracts submitted, 70 oral communications and 45 e-posters); strong representation from the underground world (163 stands, 148 companies registered on 2356 m2 and 10 countries represented); a very significant increase in sponsorship (10 sponsors, including 4 new ones) and an overall increase in turnover of more than 5%. A survey carried out after the conference showed the overall quality of the conference in terms of exchanges, conferences and the exhibition.
The report (moral and financial) of this AGM was presented and submitted for approval, along with the resolutions on membership fees. The report will be published in TES 286, due out in early January 2024.
The president also underlined all the work done for the publication of the TES magazine and the review of the Recommendations.
International action has also been strong, with AFTES’ involvement in leading the European EUTF Forum (with Éric Leca elected President of the Forum a few weeks ago), steering several AITES working groups and committees, and participating in international congresses (Marc Panet honored at the Athens congress).
A special mention goes to the entire Éole team, led by Xavier Gruz, who received the best project award in the very large projects category (over €500m) at the ITA Awards in Bombay.
Elections have been held for the 36 members of the new Board of Directors. They are elected for a 3-year term (2024-2026).
Election of Hubert Tournery, President of AFTES
At its first extraordinary meeting, the new Board of Directors elected Hubert Tournery as President of AFTES for a three-year term (2024-2026).
After thanking Michel Deffayet‘s outgoing team, who had worked so successfully over the past six years, the new President presented his intentions and his strong attachment to the “raison d’être” and historic values of the AFTES: to come together to “better design and build underground projects” for collective progress through dialogue and the sharing of experience, to transmit between generations, and of course conviviality around a common passion.
Hubert recalled the essential role of our collective members and directors in mobilising the vital forces of the working groups that will continue to constitute an unrivalled technical benchmark, as well as the necessary adaptations to be implemented to continue along the path mapped out by the founders over 50 years ago.
In particular, he spoke of the importance for our profession “of being a driving force behind proposals to show that the underground, in all its dimensions, is a solution to many of the challenges of the current transitions”.
The new President also spoke of the desire to continue to move forward collectively, building on the important work carried out by the AFTES Observatory, which was recently presented at our congress in October 2023.
Introducing the new team
Hubert then presented the new team.
From left to right around Hubert Tournery, Chairman of AFTES at the lectern:
- Denis Branque (President of the Education Committee);
- Michel Deffayet (Outgoing President and new President of the Espace Souterrain &Transitions Committee) ;
- Loïc Thévenot (President of the Syndicat des Travaux souterrains (SPETSF) of the FNTP, ex officio member of the bureau) ;
- Magali Schivre (Vice-President of AFTES, in charge of international relations and strategy) ;
- Yann Rouillard (Treasurer) ;
- François Laigle (President of the Technical Committee) ;
- Pascal Guédon (President of the TES Review Committee) ;
- Alain Mercusot (President of the Material, Equipment and Products Committee) ;
- Lou Caron et Morgane Bertrand (Co-Presidents of the Youth Committee) ;
- Philippe Millard (President of the 2026 Congress Committee).
Animations
These events were accompanied by the presentation of two very popular special lectures:
- Project for the future large FCC ring at CERN (Timothy Watson - Civil Engineering Manager)
- Feedback on the construction of the Sarenne tunnel (T . Metivier - DET Manager and Underground Works Group Leader - WSP-BG); A. ORTS - PROJECT Manager - SPIE Batignolles GC).
During the elections, 6 PhD students presented their research in 180 seconds:
- Juliette Michalon : "Underground stability and mechanisms induced during the removal of segments in deep tunnels";
- Emeline Dufossé : "Optimisation of processes for assessing impacts on neighbours during excavation of underground structures using a GIS mapping tool";
- Boris Kratz : "Control of tunnel boring machine parameters by surface settlement measurements using a Bayesian approach" ;
- Lucille Baucal Poyac : "Assessment of the environmental impact of tunnel-boring underground structures using LCA;
- Baptiste Fenneteau : "Design of deep underground structures in continuous masses by coupling numerical and reliability approaches" ;
- Tatian Richa (in video): "Reducing uncertainties in the behaviour of soil excavated by tunnel boring machines by continuously analysing the data collected - Application to two sections of the Grand Paris Express".
The gamble paid off with a margin of 180 seconds, a complicated exercise that everyone played with quality and performance, and we thank them for it.
We wish the new team all the best for the future.
For more information, see TES 286
