Letter from the President

It is my honour to have the opportunity to serve as IPLOCA President for 2018-2019. Firstly, I would like to thank Andy and Michelle Ball for their leadership in 2017-2018. Next year, our main priorities are to complete the update of IPLOCA’s strategy, expand participation of our Corresponding Members and improve communication with you, our members.

We are delighted to see several new faces on the Board. I would like to warmly welcome all the incoming directors whose profiles you will find on page 8 of this newsletter. I would also like to personally congratulate our Executive Secretary, Juan Arzuaga for celebrating his 10 th anniversary with IPLOCA on 9 September and would like to thank him for his important contribution to our association.

Just over 530 attendees participated in our 52 nd Annual Convention, which took place in London for the first time. Special thanks go to our convention sponsors, without whom such an event would not be possible. In addition to our excellent guest speakers, new elements were added to the programme: Business to Business (B2B) pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings and informative poster sessions.

The tour programme included visits to many of the famous icons of London such as Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, Kew Gardens, the Imperial War Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Science Museum. A retrospective on the convention can be found on pages 14 to 19, including a feature on the winners of this year’s IPLOCA Awards.

In this newsletter, you will find updates on the work of the HSE & CSR Committee and the Innovation Committee (specifically the Novel Construction Fall Session) and a report on the Latin America Regional Meeting. You will also note that the Scholarship programme is already receiving applications for the 2019 academic year.

At the convention, we had an overwhelming response to our request for feedback on the role of theassociation. Should you have any comments, please feel free to contact a board member. We always

welcome your valuable input.

Best regards,

John TikkanenIPLOCA President 2018-2019