DFI Announces New Technical Committee Chairs

Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) announces new chairs for three of its technical committees and an industry-wide working group.

Hannah Iezzoni, P.E., is the new chair of DFI’s Augered Cast-in-Place and Drilled Displacement Pile Committee succeeding Jonathan Huff of Goettle. A design engineer with Keller North America, Iezzoni has 10 years of industry experience in design and construction of deep foundations, ground improvement, grouting, dam infrastructure and earth retention projects. She is an active member of numerous industry groups and is the engineering representative for Keller’s internal Micropile and Anchor Product Team. She graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. in civil engineering and from the University of Colorado with an M.S. in civil engineering. Iezzoni is a recipient of a 2021 DFI President’s Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions and service of institute members.

Matthew Conte, CPC, is the new chair of the Helical Piles and Tiebacks Committee following Mark Bryant of BHATE Geosciences. Conte is a third-generation owner of Conte Company. He has extensive experience in pile installation throughout New England performing geotechnical work for various types of applications and soil conditions. Conte earned his B.S. at the Syracuse University College of Engineering and Computer Science and is a Certified Professional Constructor (CPC). Conte is a former president of the Guild of Professional Helical Pile Installers and has created multiple patents for the deep foundation industry and has published case studies and lectured on the use and innovations of helical pile products.

DFI’s Seepage Control Committee and the Slurry Wall Committee is merging to form the Structural Slurry Wall and Seepage Control Committee at the start of 2023. Meeok Kim, Ph.D., P.E., Thornton Tomasetti, and Amr Ragy, Bauer Foundation, will serve as co-chairs of the new committee. They take the helm from Michael Kynett of MBK Engineers, Gregg Batchelder-Adams of USACE and Giovanni Bonita of GEI Consultants.

Kim serves as a geostructural engineer with Thornton Tomasetti, specializing in the analysis and design of complex below-grade systems such as deep excavations, unique foundations and tunnel access shafts in various regions of U.S. The common denominator of her experience is a system governed by soils and the structures interactions. Kim is an expert on the performance of deep foundation systems, has been involved in various types of slurry wall projects, and has designed dozens of slurry wall and LBE foundations. She received a Ph.D. in civil engineering from Virginia Tech.

Ragy is a vice president with Bauer Foundation Corp. based in Odessa, Florida. A geotechnical engineer by training, he has 30 years of experience in the deep foundations industry. Ragy has been involved in projects of all sizes across the U.S. and other parts of the world with various deep foundations applications including structural slurry walls, seepage cutoff walls and soil improvement.

Richard D. Kalson, Esq., is the incoming chair of the Geo-Industry Risk Working Group, an alliance of ADSC, DFI, Geo-Institute, Geotechnical Business Association and PDCA to provide risk-related activities and resources for the industry. An attorney with Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan and Arnoff, Kalson provides counsel to subcontractors, contractors, suppliers and project owners in litigation and business consultation matters, including many ENR 400 contractors and ENR 600 specialty contractors, on all phases of the construction process on projects throughout the U.S.