Brazil has successfully launched its Young Members Group on July 1st

The Brazilian Tunnelling Committee - CBT has established this year its Young Members Group, following the initiative from ITA/AITES and sharing the same goals and objectives of the ITA-YM. The event was opened by Jairo Pascoal Júnior, Vice-president of CBT, followed by the ABMS treasurer Artur R. Quaresma Filho (Brazilian Association of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering). Akira Koshima, Former President of CBT, reported to the young audience the 25 years of the Committee history.

The CBT-YM Chairman Marlísio O. Cecílio Jr. and the Vice-chairman Eloi A. Palma Filho (Photo #2) emphasized the importance of bringing the young members together in a nation-wide scale. They reported the recent activities from WTC2015, such as the release of the Breakthrough magazine, and encouraged the active participation in the WTC2016.

As the beginning of a wider idea, CBT-YM is organizing lectures to be delivered by young professionals with a senior assistance, planned to take place in a quarterly basis. At the first Young Member meeting, Geologist Mariana K. Caldo gave a speech concerning the current Brazilian use of in-situ testing applied to tunnelling projects, with the assistance of Marcelo dos Santos, a professional with extensive practical experience on this field (Photo #1). The lecture proved to be a success, with more than 80 young professionals and students, out of 154 register members on CBT-YM as of July 1st, involved with the Brazilian tunnelling industry (Photo #3). The lecture theme was deliberated chosen for representing the early stages of a tunnelling project, counting with the brand new publication “Strategy for site investigation of tunnelling projects”, by ITA Working Group 2.