Edgar B. and Hedwig M. Olson Professor in Civil Engineering. Specilized in Engineering geology, underground construction, rock mechanics, fracture mechanics.

Several research projects:

• Polymer-MFT Interactions: From surface chemistry to rheology (Co-PI). COSIA: Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance, (2014-2016).
• Propagation of Frictional Fractures under Complex Loading (PI). National Science Foundation, (2012-2017).
• Correlation between Resilience Modulus (MR) of Soil, Light Weight Deflectometer, and Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) (PI). Joint Transportation Research Program. (INDOT-FHWA), (2013-2017).
• Seismic behavior of deep tunnels under undrained seismic loading. COLCIENCIAS, Colombia, (2013-2017).
• International Cooperation Grant (Co-PI). Tongji University, Shanghai, China, (2016-2019).
• Seismic Stabilization of the Gatun Dam in the Panama Canal. Panama Canal Authority (2016-2018).
• Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure: Network Coordination Office (Co-PI). National Science Foundation, (2016-2021).

Honors and Awards:

• ASCE Ralph B. Peck Award, 2011
• National Award, SENACYT Panama, 2012
• ARMA Applied Research Award, 2012
• Member of the Geotechnical Advisory Board of the Panama Canal, 2012
• President of ARMA, 2013-2015
• High-end Foreign Expert, People’s Republic of China, 2016

Dr. Stead emphasizes the applications of engineering geology and geotechnical engineering in forested and mountainous terrains. Current research involves the development of digital terrain mapping techniques and their incorporation into slope stability assessment. The factors controlling slope failure, the mechanisms involved, and characterization of elements at risk are all important components of the research program. Recent research has included numerical modelling of landslides (e.g. The Frank Slide, Alberta) and surface mine rock slopes, hazard and risk assessment in open pit mines and quarries, analysis of ground behaviour adjacent to underground excavations, experimental rock mechanics and acoustic emission. International collaborative research is being undertaken with partners in the UK, Switzerland and Canada.

Education

• B.Sc., University of Exeter, UK
• M.Sc., University of Leeds, UK
• Ph.D., University of Nottingham, UK

Prof. Ismet Canbulat is a mining engineer with over 30 years of experience in research, consultancy, management, on-site and academia. He has BSc, MSc and PhD Mining Engineering degrees.
He is currently Professor, Head of School and Chair of Rock Mechanics at the School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering, UNSW Sydney. His principle research interests and expertise lie in rock mechanics theory and application, ground control and rock mass classification, design of ground support systems, numerical modelling in addition to other areas in mining engineering including mine design, layout selection and geotechnical impact assessment, risk management and advanced risk based design and evaluation, ground stability aspects of mine closure and subsidence assessment.
Ismet is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia and the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and, a member of the Australian Geomechanics Society, International Society for Rock Mechanics, Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration.

Nick Barton was born in England in 1944. He was educated in the University of London from 1963 to 1970: with B.Sc.(hons) in civil engineering from King’s College, and a Ph.D. in rock slope stability from Imperial College.
He worked in NGI, Oslo from 1971-1980, and from 1984-2000, when he was a division director for 5 years and Technical Advisor for 10 years. From 1981-1984 he was manager of Geomechanics at TerraTek in Utah, USA. He was a visiting professor in the University of Luleå in Sweden, and in São Paulo Polytechnic University in Brazil in the nineteen-nineties. In 2000 he established the international consultancy Nick Barton & Associates in Norway.
He is author or co-author of 350 papers and has written two books. The first in 2000 was to develop the QTBM prognosis, the other in 2006 was to link rock quality and seismic attributes of rock and rock masses at many scales. In 1973 he developed the Barton shear strength criterion based on joint roughness JRC and joint wall strength JCS, subsequently incorporating the gravity tilt test for calculating JRC. He is co-developer of the Barton-Bandis criterion for modelling coupled rock joint behaviour, published in 1982 and incorporated in UDEC-BB in 1985. In 1974 he developed the Q-system for characterizing rock masses and for selecting single-shell tunnel and cavern support. This was updated in 1993 with Grimstad to incorporate S(fr).
He has consulted on several hundred rock engineering projects in 40 countries during the last 50 years. These have involved hydropower and metro tunnels and caverns, high dams, nuclear waste repository research and characterization, rock stress measurement, and jointed reservoir behaviour. He has thirteen international awards, including the 6th Müller Lecture in 2011. He is an honorary doctor of University of Cordoba, Argentina, and a Fellow of ISRM.

Director of Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education on Safe Mining of Deep Meta Mines.
Prof. Xia-Ting Feng received his PhD at Northeastern University of Technology (namely Northeastern University since 1992), China in 1992 and then took the position of lecturer, associate professor and professor at the same university. He joined the Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1998 as a Professor of Hundred Talent Program of the CAS and as Deputy Director in Charge and Director in 2001-2005. He has worked as Director of State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 2007-2018. He works at Northeastern University, China as a Vice President since September 2017. In 2019, Prof. Feng was elected as a member of Chinese Academy of Engineering.

He is President of Federation of International Geo-engineering Societies – FedIGS, President of ISRM Commission on Design Methodology, member of ISRM Commission on Testing Methods, and President of Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering (CSRME). He is also Editor-in-Chief of Chinese Journal of Rock Mechanics and Engineering, Associate Editor-in-Chief of Chinese Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Associate Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (JRMGE), and a member of Editorial Board of Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering (2010-present). He was the past President of International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) 2011-2015.

His research interests cover rock mechanics for deep rock engineering, intelligent rock mechanics, rock engineering design, and rockbursts. He published more than 170 technical papers and the English book “Rock Engineering Design” and “Rock Engineering Risk” with Professor John Hudson. He has edited five volumes of the book “Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering“ (CRC Press) and the book “Rockburst: ” published by Elsevier.

Dr. Norikazu Shimizu is an Emeritus Professor of Yamaguchi University in Yamaguchi, Japan.

He is now working for the Organization for Research and Development of Innovative Science and Technology, Kansai University, as a Specially Appointed Professor. Professor Shimizu served as a Vice President at Large of the International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering (ISRM) from 2015-2019 and as President of the Japan Society for Rock Mechanics from 2011-2013. His main research topics are “Development and practical application of displacement monitoring systems using satellite technologies”, “Assessing the stability of slopes, underground large caverns, tunnels and dams”, “Underground space design”, etc. In 2014, he established the ISRM Suggested Method for monitoring rock displacements using GPS.
Professor Shimizu received the Japan Prime Minister’s Prize for Distinguished Contributor to Disaster Prevention in 2017, the Space Development and Utilization Grand Prize by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in 2016, Award of Contribution to Regional Educational Administration from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2012, and other many awards from academic and professional societies.

He is now organizing international collaborative projects with Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Bulgaria, etc. He was choseen to be an honorary member of the Geotechnical Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019. More than 350 of his scientific and technical papers have been published in international journals and conference proceedings.

Mining Engineer, MSc, PhD, FIMMM, FISRM, CEng
Dr. Samaniego is a civil and mining engineer with over 40 years of experience. His expertise in geotechnical engineering, rock mechanics and rock engineering put him at the forefront of the field. Dr. Samaniego obtained a BSc in Civil Engineering from the Catholic University of Peru; a BSc in Mining Engineering from University College Cardiff; and an MSc and PhD in Rock Mechanics from the Royal School of Mines of Imperial College London.
In 1985, Dr. Samaniego co-founded SVS Ingenieros, which merged with SRK Consulting (Peru) SA in 2011. His area of expertise includes: PFS & FS for
mining method design; rock support; slope stability; waste and tailings facilities design; and mine due diligence. Dr. Samaniego has worked on many civil and mining projects in Latin America.Dr. Samaniego was President of the Institute of Engineers of Peru (IIMP) in 2014- 2016 as well as Vice President for South America of ISRM in 2011-2015.
He is member of the SME, CIM, IIMP and SPEG; Fellow Member of IOM3; Chartered Engineer CEng and Fellow member of ISRM. Dr Samaniego is a principal lecturer at the Catholic University of Peru and Graduate thesis advisor. Dr Samaniego has authored technical publications and has been speaker at different Peruvian and international conferences.