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Important DatesPetroleum Short Course | 14 - 15 September 2008 |
KEYNOTE PRESENTERS
Peter Cundall performed his doctoral work at Imperial College, London, where he originated the Distinct Element Method for modeling jointed rock and granular material. In addition to being an independent consultant for several years, he worked for Dames and Moore for five years, was a faculty member at the University of Minnesota for seven years, and is now Principal at Itasca Consulting Group in Minneapolis and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota. Dr Cundall is the original author of many computer codes, including TRUBAL, FLAC, UDEC, 3DEC and PFC, which all enjoy widespread use. His main interest is in applied computer modeling, particularly in the areas of micromechanics, dynamics, plasticity, fracture damage, localization and coupled problems. He has written many papers including the most-cited paper for the journal Géotechnique (published in 1979, with co-author Strack). Dr Cundall has received several awards for his work in rock mechanics, and is Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Member of the National Academy of Engineering. The title of his keynote address is "Quantifying the Size Effect of Rock Mass Strength".
Maurice Dusseault is a professor of geological engineering in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, University of Waterloo. He does research in petroleum geomechanics (drilling, hydraulic fracturing, reservoir geomechanics), new production methods, and deep waste disposal. He has co-authored two textbooks and over 400 professional articles in conferences and journals, and works with industry as an advisor and instructor. The title of his keynote address is "Coupling Geomechanics and Transport Processes in Petroleum Engineering". Dr Dusseault will present a two-day pre-symposium workshop entitled, "Petroleum Geomechanics in the Value Chain". Contact the ACG for more details.
Alex Mendecki is the managing director and head of research at ISS International Limited. His main research interest is monitoring seismic rock mass response to mining, specifically seismic hazard rating and the application of quantitative seismology to rock mass stability. The title of his keynote address is "Forecasting Seismic Hazard in Mines" Philip Pells is a Principal of Pells Sullivan Meynink Pty Ltd and adjunct professor of Civil Engineering at the University of NSW. He commenced his career in rock mechanics working in Dick Bieniawski’s team at the CSIR in South Africa and in 1975 moved to Sydney University as Senior Lecturer in Rock Mechanics. He left the University in 1980 to join the consultancy industry, having devoted much of his research work at the University to structural foundations on rock. The title of his keynote address is "Rediscovering the Mechanics in Rock Mechanics".
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Peter Kaiser is president/CEO of a recently established Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) in 
David Starr is a Principal Geotechnical Engineer with Golder Associates in Brisbane and has 38 years experience in geotechnical consulting. He has been part of multi-disciplinary teams for a number of significant tunnelling and infrastructure projects, covering geological and geotechnical investigations, rock property characterisation, rock support design, tunnel construction, performance assessment, and contract claims assessment. He has worked as Geotechnical advisor to Brisbane City Council on investigations for the S1 sewer tunnel, and was Lead Consultant on the design studies and construction monitoring of the Inner Northern Busway Stages 3 and 5 cut and cover tunnels and bridge structures. He was lead geotechnical consultant to the Burnett Dam Alliance for the rock mechanics studies associated with design and construction of foundations and excavations at 
Boris Tarasov graduated initially as a mechanical engineer with a particular interest in rocket engine technology (Russia, 1974). Since 1976 he has been involved in rock mechanics. He spent 22 years working for the Geomechanical Institute and Mining University in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Boris came to Australia in 1998. His professional interest is experimental physics and rock mechanics, especially hard rock behaviour at conditions of great depth. He designed many unique testing apparatus to study this subject. Boris is a professorial fellow with the Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems at The University of Western Australia. The title of his keynote address is "New insight into the nature of shear rupture propagation in pristine hard rocks and pre-existing faults". Invited Speaker |
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Sergei Stanchits is senior research scientist in GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany. He has over 30 years experience of conducting research in the fields of physics of fracture, geophysics and rock mechanics in the leading laboratories in Russia, USA and Germany. His professional interest is experimental researches of fracture process by means of advanced acoustic emission technique, the topics are: formation of shear faults in brittle rock, compaction bands in porous rock, permeability reduction, borehole breakout, sand production, initiation of fracture by water injection. He also takes part in investigations of mining induced microseismisity in deep gold mines in South Africa. The title of his invited presentation is “Acoustic Emission Analysis of Initiation and Propagation of Faults in Brittle Rock and Compaction Bands in Porous Rock”.