Dear ISRM members

The 39th ISRM online lecture will be delivered by Emeritus Professor Bruce Hebblewhite, from Sydney Australia. The title of the lecture is: “Non-conventional surface subsidence – a challenge for an improved fundamental understanding”. It will be broadcasted on 22 September 2022, 10 A.M. GMT at www.isrm.net.

Bruce was appointed as an Emeritus Professor on his retirement from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney in December 2020 after 25 years at the university involved in education, research and consulting for the mining sector.

Bruce gained his PhD in deep mining rock mechanics investigations at the Boulby Potash Mine in the United Kingdom in 1977, while enrolled at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. He has worked within the Australian mining industry from 1977 to the present time, through several different employment positions. Throughout this period, he has been actively involved in all facets of mining industry operations. In addition, he has visited and undertaken consulting and contract research commissions internationally in such countries as the UK, South Africa, China, Indonesia, New Zealand, Turkey, Canada, Chile, Namibia, Austria, USA and Kazakhstan. For the majority of his 17-year employment period with ACIRL Ltd (1977 to 1995) he had management responsibility for ACIRL’s Mining Division which included specialist groups working within both the underground and surface coal mining sectors.

His initial appointment to the University of New South Wales in 1995 was as the inaugural Kenneth Finlay Chair of Rock Mechanics in the School of Mining Engineering. In 2003 he was appointed as Head of the School and Professor of Mining Engineering.

His academic career has included development and delivery of a wide range of mining systems, mine safety and geotechnical engineering education programs for the mining sector. Research and consulting interests have included ground control in underground mining, caving mechanics in both coal and hard rock, mine subsidence and many other related topics.

Bruce is a member of the Australian Geomechanics Society and ISRM; a member of the SME (USA) and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy (AusIMM). In 2012 he was awarded the Syd S Peng Ground Control in Mining Award (from SME) – “in recognition of his long and distinguished career conducting research, providing instruction and applying practical solutions in the field of ground control”. In 2017 he received the Ludwig Wilke Award (from the Society of Mining Professors) – “for his pioneering work as a researcher, his accomplishments as a global educator, and his leadership and vision as Secretary-General of the Society of Mining Professors (SOMP)”. In 2017 he also received the SME’s annual Rock Mechanics Award – “for his significant contribution as an educator, researcher and consultant in rock mechanics and ground control”. In 2020 he received the AusIMM’s highest award, the Institute Medal – “for contributions to the mining industry and profession through education, research and training”.

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 five days. All online lectures are available from this page.