ISRM Newsletter No. 64 - December 2023

Dear Colleagues in the Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering Community,

It is my great honor and privilege to be elected as ISRM President for the office term 2023-2027 and to take over the mission from our Immediate Past President, Prof. Resat Ulusay.

I appreciate the leadership and great efforts of the past Presidents and Board members who have contributed to our Society's success. In particular, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Prof. Resat Ulusay and the immediate past Board members for their hard work during the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic. We were fortunate to continue growing in academic activities and membership, thanks to their efforts. I also appreciate the Council members, Commission Chairs, Committee Chairs, and the Co-editor of our News Journal for their dedication over the past years. The support from the Secretariat has been instrumental. I sincerely thank our Secretary-General Dr. Luis Lamas and Executive Secretary Ms. Sofia Farrusco.

We received the sad news that Dr. Eda Freitas de Quadros, the past President of ISRM, passed away in November this year. The ISRM is deeply indebted to her for her enormous and constant dedication to the Society. May Dr. Eda Quadros rest in peace.

The new Board comprises active members who will make every effort to continue serving ISRM. It will uphold the fine traditions and spirit of ISRM, which were initiated and nurtured under the leadership of past Presidents. The Board will give prime attention to the new challenges, initiatives, and opportunities within the Society.

To improve the dissemination of information, visibility, membership, and inclusion, enhancing communication through our website, publications, social networking platforms, meetings, online lectures, and courses will be one of the most important tasks of the new Board.

The Board will continue its educational initiatives through the Educational Fund Committee and the Young Members Committee. The Early Career Forum, having successfully hosted eight events, has played a key role in inviting young members to international professional events with financial support from the Educational Fund Committee (EFC). The Young Members Committee has also been successful in attracting, engaging with, and celebrating the achievements of the society's young members through various events.

Technical Commissions are vital components of our Society, playing a significant role in promoting academic and technical progress. The outcomes of these Commissions have been substantial. The new Board will continue to support the endeavors of the Commissions, enhance their impact and recognition, and assist in establishing new Commissions. New initiatives will include considering the establishment of a Commission on Computational Intelligence in Rock Engineering and the restoration of the Commission on Reservoir Geomechanics.

Communication and collaboration with sister societies will continue under the umbrella of FedIGS, comprising ISRM, ISSMGE, IAEG, IGS, and the newly involved ITA. These member societies have constructively influenced each other. Promoting collaborative events, such as thematic symposia and workshops, can more effectively facilitate the sharing of overlapping interests and interdisciplinary areas.

Linking with industry has long been an issue in our society. The focus is not only on increasing the membership of Corporate members but also on enhancing mutual interests. The Board will explore ways to more effectively showcase successful case histories from the industry through various platforms, including exhibitions, video presentations, and designated sessions at our meetings.

ISRM comprises Individual Members, Corresponding Members, National Groups, and Corporate Members. The Board will devote its utmost attention and support to the activities of these members. The engagement, contributions, and recommendations of our members are important and will be greatly valued.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve, and I wish all of you the best and much success in the years to come.

Seokwon Jeon
ISRM President 2023-2027

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Eda Freitas de Quadros e Barton, MSc in Civil Engineering and PhD in Engineering Sciences in Brazil, passed away on 13 November 2023 in São Paulo, Brazil, after fighting against cancer for almost two years. She was the ISRM President between 2015 and 2019.

From her doctoral studies onward, she worked in the field of rock hydraulics. Her main interest was the characterization of fluid flow through fractured rock masses. Eda Quadros developed a specific system including boreholes with several packers and a monitoring system to analyse the fluid flow between test windows inside the boreholes and assess a 3D hydraulic tensor. The computer analysis of the system was similar to those utilised for geophysical tomography and this hydro-tomography was successfully applied on dam sites, during site investigations in Brazil.

Eda de Quadros had a real engineering approach which was rather novel at that time in Brazil. She also managed research programmes, in particular the development for long-term elevated temperature creep and hollow cylinder tests in salt rocks, for the Brazilian oil company Petrobras. From 2011 to present, Dr. Quadros was Technical Director of BGTech Soil and Rock Engineering, a Brazilian consultancy company in rock mechanics testing and rock hydraulics.

Very active member of numerous regional societies (Brazilian Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Brazilian Committee for Rock Mechanics) she also gave much of her time to the ISRM, with the participation to many symposia and congresses, several technical commissions and became the ISRM Vice-President for South America and President of the ISRM.

Eda Quadros co-chaired the Working Group which elaborated the ISRM Suggested Method on the Lugeon Test, published in 2019, and was appointed ISRM Fellow in 2021.

Eda Quadros will also be remembered as the first female President of the Brazilian National Group, first female ISRM Vice-President as well as the first female President of the ISRM. Our society will remember her as a real friend, full of kindness and extremely joyful towards life, showing a true passion for the ISRM and constant joy and good humour.

Resat Ulusay and Philippe Vaskou

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Fellow is the highest and most senior grade of membership of the ISRM and is conferred on individuals, affiliated with the ISRM, who have achieved outstanding accomplishment in the field of rock mechanics and/or rock engineering and who have contributed to the professional community through the ISRM. During the 15th ISRM International Congress in Salzburg, Austria, three new ISRM Fellows were inducted. 

A group of ISRM Fellows is inducted every two years. Fellows of the ISRM form a group of experts that can provide strong support and advice to the Society, and can be called upon as appropriate for ISRM activities. They automatically become members of the ISRM Advisory Forum. Click here to visit the webpage on the ISRM Fellowship.

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The International Society for Rock Mechanics (India) is hosting the prestigious event ISRM International Symposium 2024 & 13th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium (ARMS 13) during 22-27 September 2024 at New Delhi. The theme of symposium is “Advances in Rock Mechanics - Infrastructure Development”. The venue of the symposium is The Eros Hotel, Nehru Place, New Delhi.

The Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium (ARMS) stands as a pivotal event in the field of Rock Mechanics, offering a platform for professionals, researchers, and scholars from across the globe to converge and exchange insights on the intricate dynamics of rock mechanics. The ARMS agenda typically encompasses a diverse array of topics, ranging from fundamental principles of rock mechanics to applied solutions for complex engineering challenges. Participants engage in in-depth discussions, share case studies, and present their research findings through keynote and session-lead lectures, technical sessions, and poster presentations. The symposium often attracts a multidisciplinary audience, including geologists, geotechnical engineers, mining professionals, and academics, creating a dynamic atmosphere conducive to fostering a holistic understanding of rock mechanics.

The symposium will also be organizing various interesting workshops and short courses. Some of them are given below. A few more are in the pipeline.

Short courses 

• SC-1: Rock Mechanics in Tunnelling Techniques (Full day): Prof. Debasis Deb, IIT Kharagpur, India and Prof. VMSR Murthy, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, India.
• SC-2: Emerging Trends in Rock Engineering- Basic Principles of AI (Full Day) Prof. Bimal Kumar: Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University. UK.
• SC-3: Risk Management for Tunnelling Projects (Half day): Prof. Jamal Rostami, Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA (Confirmation awaited).

Workshops 

• WS-1: Smart Mining and Rock Engineering (Full day): Prof. Dheeraj Kumar, Dy. Director, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, India and  Prof. Debasis Deb, IIT Kharagpur, India.
• WS-2: Rock Grouting (Half Day): Dr. Mohamed El Tani. Hydrogeology and grouting (A. Fransson); Selecting grouting pressure (M. Akx); Refusal and the minimal flow criterion (M. El Tani).
• WS-3: Integrating Rock Mass Classification Techniques and Tunnelling Technology (Half Day): Dr. Bineshian Hoss; Principal, Technical Director at Amberg Engineering; Adelaide, South Australia, Australia (Confirmation awaited).

The information regarding technical tours will be provided shortly.

The Symposium will provide excellent opportunities for industrial organizations, equipment manufacturers, entrepreneurs, consulting organizations and construction organizations to publicize themselves by being a sponsor of the Symposium. Exhibition stalls will be available at the Symposium venue.

To date, we have about 300 registrations from over 25 countries for the symposium, and more are coming every day. The extended deadline for abstracts is 15th January 2024. Click here to submit your paper.

Take advantage of the unique chance and become a sponsor and exhibitor of the Symposium. For more information click here to visit the ARMS13 website. Email the Symposium Secretariat at: contact@isrmindia.org, secretary@cbip.org.

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Rocha medal 2024: The Rocha Award Committee selected the winner of the Rocha Medal 2024 and two runners-up.

• Winner: Kazuki Sawayama, from Japan, Kyushu Univ., Japan.
• Runners-up: Liu Kai, from China, Monash Univ., Australia; Mingzheng Wang, from China, Laurentian Univ., Canada.

Technological Inovation Award 2023: Shandong University, China.

Young Rock Engineer Award 2023: Dr Wang Qi, China.

Best National Group Award 2021-2023: North Macedonia and China.

Outstanding Commission Award 2019-2023: Commission on Discotinuous Deformation Analysis - DDA.

Click to go to the ISRM Awards webpage.

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The annual Board meeting of the Federation of the International Geoengineering Societies (FedIGS) took place in Salzburg, Austria, on 9 October 2023, immediately before the 15th ISRM International Congress. FedIGS is a collaborative forum that gathers the IAEG, the IGS, the ISRM and the ISSMGE. FedIGS is currently is chaired by Prof. Chungsik Yoo, immediate Past President of the IGS.

The meeting was by all the Presidents and by immediate Past Presidents and Secretaries General of all the member societies. The spirit of collaboration among all present and all the Member Societies was noteworthy. Reports on the activities of the four Member Societies and the reports of the three Joint Technical Committees (JTCs) of FedIGS were presented and discussed. The following main decisions were taken:

• to create a fourth JTC on "Environment and Geo-Engineering Sustainability";
• to prepare a FedIGS "White Paper Policy", targeted to policy makers, presenting suggested global policies directed at needed infrastructures, its requirements and governance, construction and maintenance, under the umbrella of JTC4;
• to formalize the FedIGS Lecture to take place at the international conference of each Member Society, which take place every 4 years. 

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I have been writing some essays in the corner designated as “From ISRM Vice-President” in the Newsletter of the Japanese Society for Rock Mechanics (JSRM) since I was elected as Vice-President at Large. In these essays, I have shared information from ISRM for the members of JSRM and I have pointed several issues and challenges for our Society. When I shared the content of my essays in the ISRM Board meetings, I was asked to write an article to share the thoughts that I presented in the JSRM Newsletter (click here to download the article), which covers the following topics:

1. Suggestion for the Risk Evaluation of Rock Slopes and Cliffs in Urbanized Areas of Japan
2. Issues and Counter Measures with Natural and Man-made Underground Cavities
3. Issues with Natural Cavities in the Moon and Mars
4. Bio-Rock Mechanics
5. Learning from Ancient Rock Structures
6. Mechanics and Engineering of Polygonal Rock Masses
7. Utilization of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
8. Utilization of Laser Technology
9. Seismic Motions in Rock Engineering
10. Earthquake Prediction from Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering Perspective
11. Mechanics and Characteristics of Earthquake Faults
12. The damage to rock engineering structures by 2023 February 6 Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes and Some Lessons

I do hope these thoughts could be usefull for the further advance of Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering.

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The 1st, 2nd and 3rd editions of the “Short-Term Prediction of Rock Failure Competition (STPRFC)” sponsored by CSRME were successfully held in Taiyuan, China. Predicting and forecasting major natural and engineering disasters in rock systems like earthquakes and landslides are a major problem, and Prof. Yangsheng Zhao, Academician of CAS, proposed and advocated STPRFC to promote the rapid solution of this problem. The innovative development of theories, methods, technologies and monitoring instruments to overcome this problem will surely be continuously motivated.

The 4th STPRFC will be held in August 2024 at TYUT. Click here to download the flyer with more information.

Yang Qiang
ISRM Vice President at Large 2019-2023

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