The ISRM Digital Library was launched – ISRM Members can download 100 papers per year for free
The main aim of the ISRM Digital Library is to contain all the papers published in the ISRM Congresses and sponsored Symposia, thus giving them a greater visibility and making them available to all the rock mechanics professionals. The ISRM Digital Library is part of OnePetro, a large online library managed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers. ISRM individual members registered on the ISRM website are allowed to download, at no cost, up to 100 papers per year from the ISRM conferences, and ISRM corporate members can download 250 papers. To register on the OnePetro website (http://www.onepetro.org) as an ISRM member, the only necessary information is the username and the password used to access the members' area of the ISRM website. Non-members can purchase the ISRM papers online. The ISRM digital library has now 2,500 papers published in 11 conferences, and these numbers are expected to double in the next six months. |
The ISRM Council met in New Delhi, India, on 24 October The International Society for Rock Mechanics held its Council meeting in New Delhi, India, in conjunction with the 6th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium, organised by the Indian National Group of the ISRM and the Central Board for Irrigation and Power. 36 of the 47 National Groups were either present or represented. The Council was also attended by three Past Presidents, the chairmen of the ISRM Commissions and a representative of ITA. The ISRM has now 6312 individual members and 136 corporate members. This represents an increase of 5% in the number of individual members since the last year. 48% of the members come from Europe, but Asia has been the fastest growing region in the last years. Bolivia was welcomed as the latest National Group to join the ISRM. Several important decisions were taken by the Council and relevant information was conveyed by the Board. Most of them are reported in this Newsletter or were published in the News Release that was issued at the Symposium Opening Ceremony. The ISRM Statutes were revised by the Council in three aspects:
Click here to download the News Release of the Council meeting. |
Three prominent personalities in the field of rock mechanics were nominated for the 2011 Müller Award of the ISRM: Dr Nick Barton, Prof. Richard Goodman and Prof. Peter Kaiser. Selection took place during the ISRM Council meeting held on 24 October 2010 in New Delhi, India, and Dr Nick Barton was selected as the 6th Müller Award winner. He will receive the award and deliver the Müller lecture at the 12th ISRM Congress in Beijing, in October 2011. The Müller Award is the highest award conferred by the ISRM and honours the memory of Prof. Leopold Müller, the founder of the ISRM. It is made every four years in recognition of distinguished contributions to the profession of rock mechanics and rock engineering. |
In October 2011, the International Society for Rock Mechanics will begin the celebrations to commemorate its 50th anniversary; these celebrations will include a number of special events and initiatives. One of the initiatives consists of a competition open to Young Members of the ISRM to present their vision of "The Future Directions for Engineering Rock Mechanics". Candidates are asked to prepare a fully explanatory PowerPoint slide show explaining, illustrating and justifying their ideas. The winner will be invited to present the slide show at the Second ISRM International Young Scholars' Symposium on Rock Mechanics, which will take place in Beijing, China, on 14-16 October 2011, i.e. immediately preceding the 12th ISRM International Congress also being held in Beijing. In addition, the winning slide show will be announced and published on the ISRM website. The winner will also be formally acknowledged with a certificate during the ISRM Congress. It is anticipated that the winner will be granted a financial contribution to the air travel costs (if nacessary) plus free registration and inexpensive accommodation at both the Young Scholars' Symposium on Rock Mechanics and the ISRM Congress in Beijing. The ISRM invites all its members who are aged 35 years or less during 2011 to submit a PowerPoint slide show on their vision of "The Future Directions for Engineering Rock Mechanics". The slide show must be presented in English, and consist of exactly 40 slides and shall be submitted to the ISRM Secretariat (secretariat.isrm@lnec.pt) not later than 30 June 2011. |
In October 2011, the International Society for Rock Mechanics will begin the celebrations to commemorate its 50th anniversary; these celebrations will include a number of special events and initiatives. One of the initiatives consists of a competition, open to the ISRM Members, to create a logo to be used by the ISRM during the period of celebrations, 2011 to 2012.
The winner will receive a free copy of the ISRM 'Blue Book' containing all the ISRM Suggested Methods from 1974 to 2006, plus a free copy of the ISRM 'Orange Book' due for publication in 2012 which will contain all the new ISRM Suggested Methods developed since 2006. In addition, the winner will be acknowledged in the ISRM Newsletter and on the ISRM website. The ISRM invites all its Members to submit a 50th anniversary logo to the ISRM Secretariat (secretariat.isrm@lnec.pt) not later than 30 April 2011. The logo should be sent in a high quality digital format suitable for high resolution reproduction. Click here to download detailed information on the current ISRM logo. |
The 50th anniversary logo must include the current ISRM logo and the acronym ISRM, and should include elements that convey the idea of 50 years. An example of a logo, designed specifically for the 12th ISRM Congress in Beijing, in 2011, is shown here.
Montréal, Canada, to host the 13th ISRM International Congress on Rock Mechanics
The proposal received from CARMA, the Canadian Rock Mechanics Association, was selected by the ISRM Council. The Congress of the ISRM "Innovations in Applied and Theoretical Rock Mechanics" will take place on 29 April to 6 May 2015 and will be chaired by Prof. Ferri Hassani. |
Two nominations were received to host the 13th ISRM International Congress: from Canada, in Montréal, and from India, in Agra.
Eight PhD theses from all over the world were short listed for the Rocha Medal 2011 of the ISRM, which distinguishes the best PhD thesis in rock mechanics and rock engineering. The Award Committee decided to select Dr Dohyun Park from the Republic of Korea as the 2011 Rocha Medal winner, for the thesis entitled "Reduction of Blast-Induced Vibration in Tunnelling Using Barrier Holes and Air-deck". Dr Park will be awarded the Rocha Medal 2011 at the 12th ISRM Congress in October 2011, in Beijing, China. Acknowledging the value of another thesis, the Rocha Award Committee decided to award a runner-up certificate to Dr Li Bo, from China, for the thesis entitled "Coupled Shear-flow Properties of Rock Fractures". |
ISRM 2011 Congress - Calling all Authors and National Groups The 12th International Congress of ISRM will be held in Beijing in October 2011. Click here to visit the Congress website. Calls for submission of abstracts and papers have been sent to representatives of the ISRM National Groups (NG). Each NG has been allocated a page quota for the extended abstracts which form the hard copy proceedings, and the full papers which will be on the CD. NGs requiring more pages are to write to the ISRM Secretary General. All abstracts and papers must be submitted via the respective ISRM NG that the author belongs to. Please click here to download the Author Kit. The NG will review the abstracts and full papers and make the decision of acceptance or rejection and inform the Congress's Scientific and Publications Committee of the list of papers by 15 January 2011. Upon notification of acceptance, authors should send to the respective NG the camera-ready manuscripts and the copyright transfer form. For publishing in the conference proceedings, the camera-ready manuscripts and accompanying copyright transfer forms need to be submitted by the NG by 15 April 2011. Email isrm2011@meetmatt.net and we will be delighted to clarify any questions. Yingxin ZHOU, Chairman |
Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering is now published in a new format
Having now six issues published per year and more content in each issue, the Editors announce a substantial reduction in waiting time between the time a paper is accepted and the time it is printed. With a 80 years long history, this journal was for a long time the official journal of the ISRM. The publishers of RM&RE offer ISRM members personal subscriptions to the Journal at a discounted price. Click here to download the Editorial of the first issue with the new format. |
In February 2010 the journal Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering abandoned the traditional "pocket size" and started being published in A4 size, in a fully renovated format.
ICE Publishers will launch in January 2011 a new journal – Géotechnique Letters. This online only journal will cover the same content range of geotechnical engineering as Géotechnique. Papers are limited to 2000 words and will be published within six weeks of submission, whilst maintaining rigorous peer reviewing standards. Géotechnique regularly publishes work by rock mechanics experts, and so this new, rapid publication journal will no doubt be of interest to the ISRM members. |
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A successful ISRM 2010 International Symposium and 6th ARMS was held in New Delhi The Indian National Group of International Society for Rock Mechanics, jointly with the Central Board of Irrigation & Power, which houses the Secretariat of the Indian National Group of ISRM, hosted the ISRM International Symposium 2010 and the 6th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium "Advances in Rock Engineering" in New Delhi, India, 23 to 27 October 2010. There was an overwhelming response from the Rock Mechanics Community for the Symposium. More than 150 papers from 27 countries were presented scheduled for during the Symposium as oral/poster presentations. Sessions on "Underground and Opencast Mining" were also held wherein more than 25 papers were presented. 275 delegates from 35 countries participated in the Symposium. Keynote Lectures by renowned experts on each day of the Symposium were especially held so that participants get an opportunity to interact with internationally known personalities in the field of Rock Engineering. In addition, a two days Workshop on "Use of TBM/Road Header in Underground Works – Issues and Challenges", a Short Course on "Carbon Sequestration in Sedimentary Basins" and a Workshop on "Rock Mechanics Methods and Tools for Mining Applications" were organized. An exhibition, having 22 stalls, and exhibiting the products/services by renowned companies, was organised as a technology showcase to meet the challenges of rock formations in various engineering activities in the field of Water and Energy Resources, Mining, Roads, Underground Works, etc. In accordance with the traditions, a juri selected the papers that received the ARMS Outstanding Paper Award and the ARMS Outstanding Paper Award for Young Scientist and Engineer. K.G. Sharma For a full report on ARMS 2010 click here to go to the ISRM website.
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VII South American Congress on Rock Mechanics in Lima, Peru – a record attendance The ISRM South American Congress on Rock Mechanics, held during 2-4 December 2010 at the Sheraton Lima Hotel and Convention Centre in Lima, Peru, was most successful – well over 500 delegates attended. There was also an Exhibition with 21 stands. The Congress was organised by Carlos Soldi and Antonio Samaniego and included Keynotes by Nick Barton, Carlos Carranza-Torres, Tarsicio Celestino, Xia-Ting Feng, Evert Hoek (who gave the Premier Keynote), John A Hudson, Rimas Pakalnis and David Wood. It was impressive that all the presentations were well attended, right up until the Closing Ceremony. John A. Hudson
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ISRM Workshop on Rock Dynamics was held in Wuhan, China The ISRM Commission on Rock Dynamics held its second international workshop in Wuhan, China, on 12-13 December 2010. The workshop was hosted by the Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics of the China Academy of Sciences, and attended by more than 30 participants from Australia, Canada, China, Norway, Singapore, and the USA. Members of the ISRM Commission on Rock Dynamics who attended the workshop include Conrad Felice (USA), Bibhu Mahonty (Canada), Haibo LI (China), Xibing LI (China), Guowei MA (Australia), Chun'an Tang (China), Kaiwen XIA (Canada), and Yingxin ZHOU (Singapore). The main objective of the workshop was to discuss the drafted Suggested Methods for Determining the Dynamic Strength Parameters and Fracture Toughness of Rock Materials. The four suggested methods discussed were:
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Earlier this year, the South African Mine Health and Safety Council awarded a 1-year research project to a consortium of mine seismology and rock engineering experts to establish contributing factors driving seismicity and rockbursting in platinum mines. In its proposal, the project team suggested building on the gold mines' experience when it comes to managing seismic risk. Gold mines have been operating digital seismic networks for over twenty years during which valuable insight was gained into the relationship between geotechnical setting, stress fields, mining practice and seismicity. Notwithstanding past experience, there are clear differences between gold and platinum mines: Rock types, virgin and mining induced field stresses, the almost complete absence of regional fault systems on the platinum side to name only a few.
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