Focus Day | Monday, 24th August 2026
9:00 - 10:00
Registration and Welcome Coffee
10:00 - 10:10
Opening Remarks by IQPC and the Conference Chair
Walid Al Otaibi -
Director Offshore and Managing Director,
JBO Engineering Group GmbH
10:10 - 10:40
Design and Installation Challenges for Offshore Foundations in Rock. Geotechnical Behaviour and Insights from Recent Projects
Jan Dührkop -
Head of Geotechnics,
Ramboll
• How rock ground conditions change geotechnical behaviour, design assumptions, and installation strategies
• Key lessons from recent offshore projects using drilled and grouted rock foundations
• Current limits of available guidance and where future standardization may be needed
• Priority areas for further research to improve predictability and installation feasibility
10:40 - 11:10
From Drilling to Pushing - Innovative Site Investigation Technologies: Deep Push Seabed CPT JIP
Olsi Koreta -
Senior Lead Specialist,
Orsted
• Feasibility studies of a new innovative technology to characterize site conditions with less time and costs to address future drilling vessel bottlenecks
• JIP project introduction: Scope, Partners, and Outlook
• Value of Pushing instead of Drilling for seabed surveying
11:10 - 11:40
Reserved for GBM Works
11:40 - 12:10
Coffee Break and Networking
12:10 - 12:40
SIMOX Project – Comparison of (4) different installation methods for monopiles (impact hammered, vibro hammered, GDP, and Vibrojet)
Anderson Peccin da Silva -
Geotechnical Researcher,
Deltares
• From small-scale lab tests to large-scale field tests: scaling effects
• Modelling the lateral behaviour of vibro-driven piles: from model development to certification
• Reducing conservatism in monopile design
12:40 - 13:10
The Role of AI and Big Data in Offshore Geotechnical and Structural Engineering
Pooyan Ghasemi -
Lead Expert,
RWE
Edward Gilhead - Team Lead Civil & Structural Engineering Region 1, RWE Renewables GmbH
* Explore the challenges and opportunities of using Big Data and AI in Design and Operational Asset Management
* A Developer/Owner/Operator’s view on how we obtain value out of our data
* Challenge to the industry on what we could do better
13:10 - 13:40
Panel and Peers - Digitalizing Offshore Installation – Moving from manual planning and driving a Cultural Shift
Yiorgos Perikleous -
Principal Geotechnical Engineer,
DNV
Michael Sandholm Jepsen - Lead Engineer, Vattenfall
Christian LeBlanc Thilsted - Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder, Wood Thilsted
Pooyan Ghasemi - Lead Expert, RWE
Offshore installation remains one of the most complex phases in wind farm development, yet digitalization is lagging. While technology exists, the challenge is cultural too: shifting from a project-by-project mindset to a collaborative approach that embraces data sharing, standardization, and continuous improvement. Planning frequently relies on fragmented or manual tools, monitoring capabilities remain limited, and knowledge transfer between projects is insufficient.
How can the industry overcome resistance to change and adopt workflows that improve efficiency, safety, and transparency? This panel will explore technical gaps, cultural barriers, and practical steps toward true digitalization in offshore installation.
• Why do spreadsheets still dominate offshore installation planning? What technical and cultural obstacles prevent adoption of integrated digital solutions?
• How can real-time process monitoring, AI and data-driven decision-making improve safety, efficiency, and cost control?
• How do we overcome the “project mindset” and ensure knowledge retention?
What role does cultural change play in enabling standardization and back loop communication?
13:40 - 15:00
Lunch Break and Networking
15:00 - 15:30
Impact of Advanced Soil Laboratory Testing Quality on Monopile Design
Dr. Majid Goodarzi -
Lead Geotechnical Engineer,
JBO Engineering Group GmbH
* Comparative Analysis of Cyclic Load Tests: Evaluating results from cyclic load tests performed on identical soil samples across different geotechnical laboratories to identify variances.
* Influence on Cyclic Soil Parameters: Discrepancies in laboratory results and influence on derivation of final cyclic-related soil parameters.
* Case Study: Design Sensitivity: Performing a real-world design calculation using soil data sets from different laboratories to demonstrate practical impact.
* Impact on Monopile Weight: Evaluating how varying laboratory outcomes affect the final monopile dimensions and total steel weight.
* Strategic Recommendations: Proposing methods to mitigate the risks associated with non-unique or non-repeatable test results to ensure design reliability.
15:30 - 16:00
Reserved for Partner
16:00 - 16:30
Geotechnical Design of Soil and Scour Protection – An Owner and OEM Perspective
Lasse Riis Christiansen -
Senior Geotechnical Engineer,
Vattenfall
• Identification of discrepancies between classical geotechnical design assumptions and observed soil and scour protection behaviour
• Nonlinear soil and scour response under combined wind, wave and operational loading conditions
• Integration of geotechnical insight and operational data to support optimized scour protection design
• Implications for owner and OEM design decisions, including risk reduction and sitespecific optimization
16:30 - 17:00
An OEM’s perspective on soil damping: practical and data-driven insights
Stavros Panagoulias -
Geotechnical Engineer and PhD Researcher,
Siemens Gamesa
• Method-based soil damping ranges across commercial offshore projects
• Assessment of higher-mode soil damping
• Measurement-based soil damping estimates
17:00 - 17:00
Closing Remarks and End of Focus Day
17:15 - 18:15
Deep Dive A: Ground Investigation for Floating and Fixed Bottom Wind Turbines - Uncertainties, Ground Modelling and Early Stage Design Decisions
Yiorgos Perikleous -
Principal Geotechnical Engineer,
DNV
• State of the art approaches to site investigation and ground modelling for floating and fixed bottom wind projects
• Key sources of uncertainty and their impact on ground models and foundation design
• Efficiency, risk and challenges in ground investigation, with a focus on floating wind
This workshop provides participants with an overview on current industry practice on ground investigation and ground modelling for floating and fixedbottom wind turbine projects. You will examine key sources of uncertainty in geophysical and geotechnical investigations and how these uncertainties propagate into ground models and foundation design, and how new techniques can be used to disassociate site investigation from the critical path of the projects. In the discussion we will focus on the implications for design decisions, risk and uncertainty, particularly in the context
of deepwater and floating wind developments. Participants will gain insights into
alternative investigation and modelling strategies and how these can be evaluated
and applied to their own projectspecific ground conditions.
Yiorgos Perikleous, Principal Geotechnical Engineer, DNV
