The three President’s Awards has been granted by Deep Foundation Institute (DFI) president Michael Wysockey at the DFI 47th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations.
In order to recognizing the outstanding contributions and service of members who progress the work of DFI, the DFI President’s Awards are given at the discretion of the president.
Paul Axtell of Dan Brown and Associates; Sebastian Lobo-Guerrero of American Geotechnical & Environmental Services; and Chris Woods, vice-president at Densification Inc, were the owner of current year’s awards.
As a DFI trustee, chair of the Drilled Shaft Committee and trustee liaison for the Manufacturers, Suppliers and Service Providers Committee, Axtell was the first technical program chair to oversee a DFI virtual conference (SuperPile ‘20), and chaired SuperPile ’22 when it was held in-person in St Louis. Axtell is a paper reviewer for DFI’s annual conferences and a frequent speaker/author at DFI events, including this year in Berlin at the DFI-EFFC International Conference on Deep Foundations and Ground Improvement and at SuperPile ’22.
While Lobo-Guerrero is a national and international ambassador as well as a social media influencer for DFI, at the 2020 Annual Conference, which was held virtually in National Harbor, Maryland, he was conference chair. He is also a contributor, interviewer and interviewee for many of DFI’s podcasts and a member of the joint ADSC-DFI Anchored Earth Retention Committee.
As a technical program co-chair for this year’s annual conference, Woods is a regular contributor, interviewer and interviewee for DFI podcasts and a member of the Ground Improvement and Women in Deep Foundations Committees. He is also a guest editor for two upcoming special issues of the Deep Foundation Institute Journal focused on ground improvement.
Involving contractors, engineers, manufacturers, suppliers, academics and owners in the deep foundations industry, the DFI is an international association of, which has over than 4,000 members worldwide.