Keynote Speakers

Rock mechanics contributions of the late Evert Hoek are reviewed in light of rock mechanics / rock engineering in the foreseeable future.

Dr. Charles Fairhurst is a world-renowned member of the global rock mechanics community with more than 70 years of experience in mining rock mechanics, who has consulted on rock stability problems for tunnels, dams, mines, and excavations throughout the world. After attaining his Ph.D. in Mining Engineering from the University of Sheffield, UK, in 1955, he was on the University of Minnesota faculty in the Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering from 1956 to 1997. He served as Department Head from 1973-1987 and moved to Professor Emeritus status in 1997. For almost 50 years, Dr. Fairhurst has been actively engaged with the problems of geological isolation of high and intermediate-level nuclear waste in the U.S.A. and internationally. His current emphasis is on the mechanics of fracture propagation in naturally fractured rock under explosive loading and the effective stimulation of geothermal reservoirs. Dr. Fairhurst served as President of the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) from 1991-1995 and was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (1979) and the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (1991). He is a Fellow of the ISRM and a Fellow of ARMA. In 2013, he was inducted as Officier, Légion d’Honneur, France. Dr. Fairhurst holds honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Nancy, France; St. Petersburg Mining Academy, Russia; University of Sheffield, England; and University of Minnesota, USA. He is an Advisory Professor to Tongji University, Shanghai, China.

Assumptions regarding minerals and the future energy are covered, including what these assumptions mean for materials supply chains. Challenges in mining and processing will be discussed, along with potential advanced materials solutions. Comments on the changing political and economic landscape as may become apropos at the time will be noted.

Dr. Michelle Michot Foss is Fellow in Energy, Minerals & Materials Center for Energy Studies at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas, where she helps build capacity on non-fuel minerals supply chains. Dr. Foss has over 40 years experience in senior positions in energy (oil, gas/LNG, electric power) and environmental research, consulting, and investment banking, with early career exposure to mining and mined land reclamation. She has served in several positions at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) and the University of Houston. She was the chief energy economist and head of the Bureau of Economic Geology’s Center for Energy Economics at UT Austin. She was also a University of Houston Shell Interdisciplinary Scholar with grants on North American gas and power integration and national oil companies. Her career research highlights include projects for local, national, and international government bodies, including the Texas Comptroller, U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, World Bank, Japan’s External Trade Organization, and other institutions.

This keynote will describe the journey of how ground support design and practices in Australian and North American underground metal mines have evolved over the last 30 years and will provide a personal vision into what the future may look like.

Dr. Yves Potvin joined the Australian Centre for Geomechanics at The University of Western Australia in 1998 and was center director in 2000-2019. He has over 40 years experience in rock mechanics and mine design. Previously, he held managerial positions at Mount Isa Mines and the Noranda Technology Centre, and also worked as a mining engineer at Noranda Mines, Gaspe Division. He undertakes numerous collaborative industry-focused research projects on ground support, slope design, and mine-induced seismicity and rockburst. He currently participates in several geotechnical review boards around the world.

Subsurface expertise, and specifically the application of the principle of mechanics to subsurface materials, will remain a sought-after skill set for generations. Whether in the established development of oil and gas resources, in the selection and monitoring of CO₂ or H₂ storage sites, or in more fundamental applications such as mining and geophysics, the understanding of rock mechanics is essential. This presentation will begin with an overview of the current and potential applications of the geomechanics and geoengineering domains, followed by several ideas on how to expand the relevance of these domains.

Dr. Jeff Spath is professor and former holder of the Stephen A. Holditch department head chair in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University. He was formerly CEO of the Texas Oil & Gas Institute, providing petroleum engineering research, engineering and education for the benefit of the State of Texas. Prior to that, he retired from Schlumberger Limited after a thirty-two-year career, during which he worked in various field, engineering, research, and management capacities in all regions of the world, ending his career as part of the global executive management team. Concurrent with his final position with Schlumberger, he served as the 2014 President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). He is an SPE Honorary Member and was a Distinguished Lecturer in 1998-1999 on the subject of production enhancement. Dr. Spath is a member of the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s National Petroleum Council. In teaching and research activities, Dr. Spath focuses on production and reservoir engineering. He has published 26 peer-reviewed papers and has authored 16 patents on these subjects.