Welcome to Montréal! The Members of the Organizing Committee of the 13th International Society on Rock Mechanics Congress are pleased to invite you to the ISRM Congress 2015 scheduled from May 10 to 13, 2015 in Montréal, Canada. The Congress will be hosted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), in collaboration with three top Canadian universities: McGill University, Queen's University, and University of Toronto, as well as the Canadian Rock Mechanics Association (CARMA). Also supporting ISRM is the American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA). This premier technical mining conference will bring together over 1,000 high profile international researchers, engineers and practitioners to present the latest accomplishments, innovations and potential future directions in rock mechanics and its applications around the world. After traveling the world, the ISRM Congress is going back to Montréal - one of the world's great tourist destinations, with a rich history and culture complemented by a bustling nightlife, romantic scenery and an electric energy. It is a city of contrasts: truly bilingual in nature (English and French); with old European architecture mixing with sleek modern structures. Visitors enjoy feasting in one of the city's many high-quality and diverse restaurants. Let's not forget that Montréal is home to the world-famous Cirque du Soleil - performances are spectacular escapes into a fantasy world of dreams and exquisite music. Yet it is the people of Montréal who make it such a special place. Its diversity creates a wonderful matrix of ethnicity, culture, language, cuisine and fashion for you to experience. The Congress presentations will begin with lectures by the Müller Award and ISRM Rocha Medal 2015 recipients. Each day of technical presentations will open with two keynote presentations by world thought leaders you won't want to miss. Congress Highlights
Be sure to visit isrm2015.com, download the preliminary program and plan to maximize your experience. We look forward to seeing you in our city in May! Ferri Hassani General Chair ISRM 2015 |
Option to attend the CIM Convention activities
 RockBowl is a game of questions and answers. Competing teams are challenged to answer technical and non-technical questions about rock mechanics. It will take place for the first time in the 13th ISRM Congress in Montréal, on 12 May.Teams are organised by the ISRM National Groups. Organise a team and join this fun and challenging game! Registration is free of charge and the number of teams is limited. Excellent prizes wait for you. |
Following an initiative of the ISRM Board, supported by the Chinese National Group, a Glossary with rock mechanics terminology in different languages has been compiled during the past few months and has now been made available on the ISRM website. This is hoped to be an important contribution for practitioners that have to deal with technical literature in different languages. An initial list of 1000 English rock mechanics terms were selected. This list was sent for translation to several Board Members and National Groups. So far, translation into the following languages have been received and are are available in the Glossary: Chinese, English, Korean, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Russian and Turkish. Translations in other languages are arriving to the Secretariat and they will be added. We hope that the number of languages available will be increase considerably before the Montréal Congress, next May. A dedicated platform was implemented on the website for the Rock Mechanics Glossary. To search, choose the original language and insert the term. If a correspondence is found, click on the adequate term to see its translation in the available languages. |
 For the ninth online lecture the ISRM invited Prof. Dick Stacey and the title is "Risk in rock engineering design and practice".The lecture will be broadcast on 16 April, at 10 a.m. GMT. The lecture will remain online so that those unable to attend at this time will be able to do it later. As usual, the attendees will be able to ask questions to the lecturer by e-mail during the subsequent 48 hours. Dick Stacey is Professor Emeritus, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He graduated initially as a mechanical engineer with a particular interest in stress analysis. He worked under Prof Z.T. Bieniawski in the Rock Mechanics Division at CSIR's National Mechanical Engineering Research Institute in South Africa before spending a year at the Imperial College of Science and Technology as an Academic Visitor in the Engineering Geology Department with Sir John Knill. In 1976 he joined SRK Consulting, and was with that company for 25 years, becoming Chairman of the South African Company, before moving to the School of Mining Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2000 as Centennial Professor of Rock Engineering. He retired officially at the end of 2008, but continues to be involved with the University, running postgraduate courses and supervising research students, and he carries out occasional review consulting assignments. He has served as Chairman of the South African National Group on Rock Mechanics (now the South African National Institute of Rock Engineering), Chairman of South African National Council on Tunnelling, Vice-President for Africa of the International Society for Rock Mechanics, and President of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. The previous ISRM Online Lectures were given by Prof. Wulf Schubert, Prof. John Hudson Dr. Pierre Dufaut, Prof. Eduardo Alonso. Dr John Read and Prof. Herbert Einstein Prof. Shunsuke Sakurai and Prof. Resat Ulusay. All the ISRM Online Lectures remain available on the ISRM website in a dedicated webpage (click to open in a new window). |
Election of the ISRM Regional Vice Presidents 2015-2019 will take place at the Council meeting to be held on 10 May 2015 in Montreal, Canada. The following nominations were received: Africa - Mr. William Joughin, nominated by the NG South Africa  Asia - Prof. Norikazu Shimizu, nominated by the NG Japan - Prof. Seokwon Jeon, nominated by the NG Korea - Prof. He Manchao, nominated by the NG China - Prof. Thallak G. Sitharam, nominated by the NG India Australasia - Mr. Stuart Read, nominated by the NG New Zealand Europe - Prof. Charlie Li, nominated by the NG Norway North America - Prof. Doug Stead, nominated by the NG Canada South America - Prof. Sergio Fontoura, nominated by the NG Argentina As part of the current ISRM Board's modernisation programme, the Board wishes to ensure that ISRM members have the opportunity to learn about the candidates' experience and intentions. Accordingly, we have asked the candidates to provide short videos of their background and intentions. These videos and the candidates' nomination documents are available on the Vice President's election page on the ISRM website (click to open in a new window). |
 The December 2014 issue of the ISRM News Journal is now available. It includes the ISRM activities in 2014, the Board and Council meetings, an article by the ISRM President on the accomplishments of the 2011–2015 Board, a report of the Technical Oversight Committee on the work done by the Commissions, information on the publication of the "Orange Book" with the Suggested Methods 2007-2014, announcements of futures events, reports of the Vice Presidents and many other articles of interest for the rock mechanics fraternity. Prof. John Hudson announced in the Editor's Introduction to this Volume of the News Journal that this is his last volume as Editor of the News Journal, after having edited it for eight years, 2007–2015. The ISRM owes him tremendouly for more this excellent contribution that he gave to the Society. The ISRM News Journal is distributed to all members in electronic version. We still print a few copies of the News Journal, which are available at our sponsored symposia. Click here to read it directly on our website or download it. |
Since 2011, the ISRM family has been growing with a total of seven new National Groups from south-eastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine joined ISRM during the last few months. The new National Groups are:
Prof. Ivan Vrkljan Vice President at Large, ISRM |
The Scientific and Technical Union of Mining, Geology and Metallurgy (STUMGM) in Bulgaria.
This is an ISRM specialized conference co-sponsored by more than 20 institutions, including Chinese Society of Rock Mechanics and Engineering, China United Coalbed Methane Corporation, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation. The central theme of CSG2015 is "Unlocking Shale Gas through Innovation and Integration" to focus on scientific breakthroughs in all of disciplinary areas essential for the extraction of shale and coal seam gas. The objective of the conference is to provide a platform for international researchers and practitioners across the whole range of disciplines to examine pressing issues, exchange ideas, develop innovative solutions and explore emerging technologies in key technical areas of shale and coal seam gas extraction. This is the key to replicating the success of the US shale gas revolution both in China and in other parts of the world. The objective of this conference will be achieved through a combination of 10 keynote lectures, 150 presentations, 200 posters, and post-conference technical tours. On behalf of the organizing committee, we would like to invite you to share your latest research with colleagues around the world. We look forward to welcoming you in Wuhan!  CSG Chairs Jishan Liu (Professor, The University of Western Australia) Derek Elsworth (Professor, Penn State University) Xia-Ting Feng (Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences) Fubao Zhou (Professor, China University of Mining and Technology) |
 This ISRM specialised conference follows three previous Workshops on Volcanic Rocks, which took place in Madeira, Portugal, in 2002, in the Azores, Portugal, in 2007 and in Tenerife, Spain, in 2012. The Workshop will provide a showcase for researchers to review recent developments and advancements in the geotechnical characterization and engineering applications related to volcanic formations.The aim of the Workshop is to bring together international researchers and practitioners dealing with volcanic rocks and soils. These materials exhibit a peculiar mechanical behaviour at both laboratory and in-situ scale, due to their specific structural properties, which makes characterization dificult. The Workshop occurs in two full days, divided in four sessions devoted to the main Conference topics, including keynote lectures, selected contributions, and open discussion. The Workshop will be followed by some interesting technical visits which are currently in preparation. Ischia is famous over the world for its natural beauty and its thermal springs. You will also have the opportunity to visit the coast (Costiera Amalfitana) and the other islands of the Gulf of Naples, including Capri. |
 The Austrian Society for Geomechanics has the pleasure to invite you to the ISRM Regional Symposium EUROCK 2015 "Future Development of Rock Mechanics" to be held 7-10 October 2015, in conjunction with the 64th Geomechanics Colloquium in Salzburg, the city where the International Society for Rock Mechanics was founded in 1962. The Geomechanics Colloquium in Salzburg since its initiation in 1951 has always been a perfect and distinguished meeting place for researchers and practitioners. The success of this concept not only shows in the continuous meetings over more than 60 years, but also in the attendance of regularly around 1000 participants. The Symposium will be held at the Salzburg Congress, which is located very close to the center of the city. Salzburg itself is famous for its unique scenery and atmosphere.  Poster sessions will accompany the oral presentations. For the technical exhibition more than 50 booths are available. Due to strong pre-bookings of regular exhibitors only limited space is available. For accompanying persons an exciting program will be organized. The social program includes a dinner and a chamber concert. On Saturday, October 10th, technical visits to important rock engineering sites and tunnels will be organized. |
SAIG, the Argentinean Society of Geotechnical Engineering is pleased to host the VIII South American Congress on Rock Mechanics (SCRM), a Regional Symposium for South America of the ISRM, to be held in Buenos Aires from 15 to 18 November 2015.  The previous South American Congresses on Rock Mechanics have been held in Colombia (1982, 2006), Brazil (1986, 1998), Venezuela (1990), Chile (1994) and Peru (2010). After having traveled much of the continent it is the first time that this congress takes place in Argentina. The VIII South American Congress on Rock Mechanics (SCRM) will be organised together with three parallel events: the 15th Pan American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (XV PCSMGE), the 6th International Symposium on Characteristics of Deformation of Soils (IS-BA2015) and the XXII Argentinean Congress of Geotechnical Engineering (CAMSIG XXII). Buenos Aires 2015 will be held at the Hilton Hotel, in one of the most fashionable and exclusive areas of the city with access to all major tourist attractions and very good communication with domestic and international airports. Our goal and commitment is to produce a meeting that strengthens the connection between academics and practitioners from North and South America.  We hope to see you in Buenos Aires 2015 to celebrate together this great event for our profession. Prof. Alejo O. Sfriso, President Prof. Ricardo J. Rocca, Secretary VIII SCRM Buenos Aires 2015 |
An ISRM Specialized Conference  The Finnish National Group of ISRM and the Finnish Association of Civil Engineers RIL invite you to the 7th International Symposium on In-Situ Rock Stress to be held during 10–12 May 2016 in the beautiful city of Tampere, Finland. There have been six previous International Symposia on the rock stress topic, starting in 1976 in Sydney, Australia, and with the most recent one being held in Sendai, Japan, in 2013. This 7th Symposium will be a natural continuation of the in-situ rock stress topic, which is of great importance to most rock engineering projects. We hope to welcome all interested rock stress practitioners, modellers, designers and contractors to this 2016 rock stress symposium in Finland. We are sure that the 7th Symposium will contain much new material and will be an excellent forum for presenting your work, keeping up to date with developments, and networking. The Symposium encompasses all aspects of rock stresses, including: Rock stress measurements using different methods; Interpretation and analysis of results: Case studies (nuclear waste disposal, mining, civil engineering); Regional stress fields; Seismicity and rock stress; New, innovative stress measurement methods; Rock structures and rock stress; and Stress modelling. Finland is an excellent venue for the Symposium because of the large amount of rock engineering construction and the fact that rock stress plays an important role in the design of Finnish rock engineering projects—even in the shallow underground facilities. Although the high horizontal stresses can be utilized in stabilizing rock caverns, such high stresses can cause rock damage around the rock facilities, so understanding the stress field and designing accordingly is one of the keys to success. |
|
The Vietrock 2015 international symposium: "Rock Mechanics for Sustainable Development" was held in Hanoi, as an ISRM specialized conference, organized by the Vietnam Society for Rock Mechanics. The total number of participants was 150, including more than 50 international participants from 12 country and regions.  The symposium had welcome speeches by H.E Academicians Dang Vu Minh president of Vietnam Union Sciences and Technology Associate (VUSTA) and by Prof. Chung-in Lee (ISRM Fellow). The six keynote lectures were presented by Prof. Norikazu Shimizu (Japan) Prof. Zhu Hehua (China), Prof. Jian Zhao (Australia), Prof. Ki-Bok Min (Korea) V. Prof. Lu Ming (Singapore) and Prof. Eivind Grøv (Norway). Dr Zhou Yingxin, ISRM Vice President for Asia, closed the Symposium with a presentation on the ISRM. On 14 March, the conference tour to the Halong Bay as an official social event where all the organizing committee members and delegates are invited to share ideas and discuss future activities for the development of Asian Rock Mechanics. A total of 44 papers were presented in 6 parallel session. The 58 papers with 520 page Symposium proceedings were prepared and published by the Publishing house for Sciences and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam. The purpose of Vietrock 2015 symposium is to contribute to the knowledge Rock Mechanics for Sustainable Development of Vietnam. This was the first time such international symposium was held in Vietnam. The symposium created favorable opportunities for future meetings, cooperation and the exchange of ideas and experience between the scientists, technologists, managers in the field Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. Pham Quoc Tuan |
The ISRM (India) Journal was launched in 2012. It is a half yearly technical journal of the Indian National Group of the ISRM, which is involved in dissemination of information on rock mechanics and its related activities in the field of foundation and abutments of dams, tunnel engineering, mining, underground works, rock slope stability, road works, etc. |
ISRM Secretariat, c/o LNEC, Av. Brasil, 101, 1700-066 Lisboa, PORTUGAL
|
