ISRM Newsletter No. 68 - Winter 2024

Message from the President

Dear ISRM colleagues, 

As we approach the end of 2024, it is a moment to reflect on the past year’s activities. First, I would like to express my gratitude to all members who have actively participated in various aspects of our society’s activities. It is wonderful to see many activities and achievements, and I hope that these achievements will carry over into future activities. 

In 2024, the ISRM sponsored several events, including one International Symposium, two Regional Symposia, three Specialized Conferences, two JTC Conferences, and two Commission Conferences. Congratulations to all for the successful organization of these events, and my heartfelt thanks to the organizing committees for their dedicated efforts.
 
During the International Symposium held last September in New Delhi, India, the Rocha Medal Award Lecture and the Franklin Lecture were presented. In the Early Career Forum, eight young scholars from Asian region showcased intriguing research. Additionally, Prof. Krishna Panthi and Dr. Muriel Gasc delivered invaluable presentations on professional career development. A tribute session was also held in honor of the late Dr. Eda Quadros, our former president.

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Eurock2025 and ISRM International Symposium 2025, Trondheim, Norway, 16-20 June 2025

Dear ISRM members

The EUROCK 2025 conference is rapidly approaching, and we are excited to announce that registration opens on January 15th. Visit our registration page to sign up. Remember, if you register before March 8th, you will receive a 20% Early Bird discount!

We currently have about 250 papers under review and have confirmed seven top-quality keynote speakers. Additionally, we have planned several workshops that can be attended before the main conference days, as well as pre- and post-conference technical tours. More information on registration, tours, workshops, and all things EUROCK 2025 can be found on our website www.eurock2025.com.

The EUROCK 2025 Organizing Committee still has a lot of work to do before our conference in June, but for now, we are taking a few days off during the Christmas holidays to recharge and prepare for the ISRM event of 2025.

We wish you all a happy new year and look forward to seeing you in Trondheim in June! Please follow us on the conference website and remember to save the dates: 16-20 June 2025.

Hoping to see you in Trondheim!

The Eurock2025 Organizing Committee

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Dr. Sylvie GENTIER47th ISRM Online Lecture by Dr. Sylvie Gentier 

The 48th ISRM online lecture was delivered by Dr. Sylvie Gentier, from France. The lecture title was: “New frontiers for deep geothermal energy: some rock mechanics issues...”. It was broadcast on 19th December, and it is available from the Online Lecture's page.

Dr. Gentier started her career in 1986 and spent the next 10 years on radioactive waste disposal in crystalline environments, and more specifically on the hydromechanical behavior of fractures. From the mid-1990s, she coordinated BRGM's scientific work in support of the development of the EGS geothermal site at Soultz-sous-Forêts (Alsace, France) until the early 2010s, while supervising and participating in R&D in rock mechanics (thermo-hydromechanics of fractured/faulted rock masses). In 2015, she joined BRGM's Strategy Directorate to oversee activities relating to “Subsoil resources and uses” (geothermal energy, underground storage, water resources and mining resources). In 2019, she becomes Director of the “Energy Transition and Underground Space” program, focused on geothermal energy and underground storages (heat, CO2, H2 and radioactive), until her retirement in July 2024.

In addition, from 1990 to 2013, she conducted O&G research on fractured reservoirs and tight gas reservoirs for European oil companies and in the field of CO2 storage.

Dr Gentier was a visiting scientist at LBL in 1987 and 1988. From 1995 to 2005, she was an associate professor at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. From 2005 to 2009, she worked as program officer for “CO2 capture and storage” at the French National Research Agency (ANR).

S. Gentier obtained her PhD in 1986, work for which she was awarded the Rocha Medal in 1988. She holds HDR (habilitation to supervise research). She published more than 150 scientific papers and communicated at national and international conferences. She authored a book entitled “Fractures in crystalline rocks: effects of deformation on fluid circulation” for ANDRA (2002). She has also collaborated (Tome 1, 2000) and written several chapters (Tome 2, 2013 and Tome 4, 2017) in the CFMR “Rock mechanics manuals” series.

Sylvie Gentier was member of various scientific advisory boards in France. She contributed to the review of numerous articles for various scientific journals and served as General Secretary of the CFMR (French Rock Mechanics Committee) from 1995 to 2016, of which she was also Vice-President (2004-2016).

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ISRM Tribute to Dr. Evert Hoek (by C. Fairhurst and E.T. Brown)

Dr. Evert Hoek, a long-time international leader in rock engineering, passed away peacefully on July 6, 2024, after a brief illness, at home in Vancouver, Canada. In their own words, his family “adored” him. 

The international rock mechanics community grieves with you. We have lost a major leader in our field, a close colleague and friend, but we are all better for having known him. 

Evert was born on August 23,1933, in what was then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in Southern Africa. His parents were farmers. He studied Mechanical Engineering at Cape Town University and met his wife Theo there. They have two children, son Peter and daughter Dorothy (Fairholm). Theo passed away in 2013. Evert married Bonnie in 2014. He retired in 2018. Throughout his remarkable and busy career Evert was a devoted husband and father. A private celebration of Evert’s life has been arranged by Bonnie and the family.

The international rock mechanics community grieves with you. We have lost a world leader in our field, but we are all the better for his major contributions and for having known him.

After receiving his M.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cape Town University in 1957, Evert joined the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratory in Pretoria, to conduct research on mechanics and stress analysis. He inherited “a large photo-elastic stress analysis unit”. This had been assembled by a staff member, who had decided to retire soon after it was completed.

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Scientific Farewell to Dr. Evert Hoek

On 30 and 31 October, the 1st International Conference on Rock Mass Classification Systems occurred in Oslo, Norway (https://www.rmcc2024.com/). NGI organized the event in collaboration with IAEG. During the conference, a special farewell tribute was held in memory of Dr. Evert Hoek, a pioneer in rock mechanics and recipient of the first Müller Award from the ISRM, who recently passed away.

Prof. John Harrison from the University of Toronto presented a brief biography of Dr. Hoek. Prof. Vassilis Marinos, President of IAEG, highlighted his remarkable contributions in a lecture titled “Reliably Mastering Rockmass Strength Estimation Using GSI.” Additionally, Prof. Leandro R. Alejano, former ISRM Vice President for Europe, delivered the lecture “From Intact Rock to Rockmass Strength and Practical Rock Engineering Approaches,” representing ISRM in the tribute. These presentations honoured Dr Hoek’s significant legacy in advancing rock mechanics and rock engineering. The scientific farewell for Dr Evert Hoek was published on the ISRM website, courtesy of NGI.

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Videos of the 2024 ISRM Awards available on the website

The video presentation of the 2024 ISRM Science and Technology Awards winners - category Science Achievement Award and the Young Rock Engineer Award is available on the ISRM website:

Click here to watch the video of Weiren Lin and click here for the video of Pinnaduwa Kulatilake, the two ex-aequo winners of the 2024 ISRM Science Achievement Award 2024.

Click here to watch the video of Gabriel Walton, winner of the 2024 Young Rock Engineer Award.

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ISRM Workshop on Soft Rocks (ISRM-WSR2025) - 15-16 May 2025, Porto, Portugal

The ISRM Workshop on Soft Rocks will take place in Porto, Portugal, 15-16 May 2025, organised by the ISRM Commission of Soft Rocks, the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), the China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, the Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering (CSRME) and the Portuguese Geotechnical Society (SPG). Click here to download the Bulletin No. 1.

The venue will be the Auditorium of the School of Engineering of the University of Porto. Contributions will be published in a special issue on Soft Rock Engineering of the International Journal of Coal Science & Technology. Manuscript submission deadline is 20 March 2025.

For more information, visit the Workshop website.

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VietRock2024 was held in Hanoi, 26 October, an ISRM sponsored conference

The Vietnamese National Congress of Rock Mechanics and Engineering (VietRock2024) was held on 26 October 26 at the Power Engineering Consulting JSC 1 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The theme was “Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering - Contemporary Issues”. Six topics were raised: History of Vietnamese Society for Rock Mechanics, Special session SNU (Korea) - VSRM, PVU (Vietnam) "Offshore Energy and Reservoir Geomechanics"; Rock Mechanics & Rock Engineering in Tunnel and Underground Construction; in Mining; in Research Geohazard & Disaster reduction; in Petroleum engineering; application of AI and IOT.

The symposium is held as an ISRM Specialized Conference and jointly organized by the Vietnam National Group of ISRM - Vietnamese Society for Rock Mechanics (VSRM), Institute of Geological Sciences -Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Drilling and Production Technology Vietnam, and PetroVietnam University.

The VietRock2024 had a keynote lecture: Prof. Ki-Bok Min (Republic of Korea), ISRM Vice President for Asia, titled “The State of the Art in Anisotropic Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics”. A total of 55 abstracts were submitted and reviewed, and the proceedings contain 36 papers from five countries on various issues related to the field of rock mechanics and rock engineering.

We highly appreciate over 70 participants from Korea, China, and Vietnam. We believe that the VIETROCK2024 symposium will create favourable opportunities for future meetings, cooperation and the exchange of ideas and experience between the scientists, technologists, and managers in the field of rock mechanics and rock engineering.

Pham Quoc Tuan, VietRock2024 Organising Committee

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ISRM Young Members' Seminar on the ISRM Young Members YouTube channel 

The last Young Members' Seminar took place on 23 October (click here to download the program) and featured presentations from researchers from the Netherlands, Spain, France, and Norway:

  • Probabilistic Analysis of a Rock Salt Cavern with Application to Energy Storage Systems -  Elham Mahmoudi (Deltares, The Netherlands)
  • Size effects on strength and deformability of intact and artificially-jointed hard rock samples - Manuel A. González Fernández (University of Vigo, Spain)
  • Using Synthetic Rock Mass and Discrete Fracture Network approaches to study rock mass strength properties - Etienne Lavoine (Itasca Consultants S.A.S., France)
  • A hybrid approach for adequate rock support design in hard rock tunnelling - Jorge Terron-Almenara (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, Norway)

Watch the Seminar on the ISRM Young Members YouTube channel.

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6th European Rock Mechanics Debate on the ISRM YouTube channel

The 6th ISRM European Debate's title was "Failure criteria: Mohr-Coulomb vs Hoek&Brown", and it took place on 16 October. The speakers were Joseph Labuz from the University of Minnesota, USA and Ming Cai from Laurentian University, Canada. The Organizing Committee comprises Philippe Vaskou (as moderator) and Muriel Gasc (Europe ISRM Vice-President). For complete information, please download the flyer directly here.

The series of debates aims to stimulate communications among European academics and practitioners of rock mechanics and rock engineering. It is hoped that such communications will strengthen the European rock mechanics and engineering network. The debates are held virtually, and each one will have two speakers with different perspectives on a hot rock engineering topic or a specific technical aspect of rock mechanics. One of the main aims is also to collect opinions and suggestions from the rock mechanics community.

The recording of the European Rock Mechanics Debate is available in a playlist on the ISRM YouTube channel.

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ISRM Sponsored Conferences

Click to open the Conferences webpage.