Australian Geomechanics Society Notes & News

Notes and News for Members of the AGS

Prof. Lytton Tour of Australia, Melbourne Program

At the invitation from Don Cameron and the Footings Group SA, Professor Robert Lytton has agreed to conduct a lecture tour around Eastern Australia. The Housing Engineering, Design & Research Association, is organizing this tour with the help of the Adelaide, Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne chapters of the Australian Geomechanics Society, FFS Queensland, FFS NSW, ARC Centre for Geotechnical Science and Engineering at the University of Newcastle, Central Geotechnical Science & Engineering, Monash University and Australian Road Research Board.

Professor Lytton is a leading international figure in unsaturated soil research in pavements, infrastructure and residential construction.

Program and registration form

Professor Lytton will be in Melbourne for the following dates:

Friday 25th May – “Expansive Soils”, “Characterization of Expansive Soils for Designs”

Monday 28th May – “Pavements on Expansive Soils”

Prof. Lytton Tour of Australia, Sydney Program

At the invitation from Don Cameron and the Footings Group SA, Professor Robert Lytton has agreed to conduct a lecture tour around Eastern Australia. The Housing Engineering, Design & Research Association, is organizing this tour with the help of the Adelaide, Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne chapters of the Australian Geomechanics Society, FFS Queensland, FFS NSW, ARC Centre for Geotechnical Science and Engineering at the University of Newcastle, Central Geotechnical Science & Engineering, Monash University and Australian Road Research Board.

Professor Lytton is a leading international figure in unsaturated soil research in pavements, infrastructure and residential construction.

Program and registration form

Advances in Geotechnical Aspects of Roads and Rail Tracks

The Sydney Chapter of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) is holding a Symposium titled: Advances in Geotechnical Aspects of Roads and Rail Tracks. The Symposium will be a high profile, all day event that is expected to attract over 100 attendees. Selected papers will be published in Symposium proceedings that will be dedicated to Roads and Rail Tracks.

The Symposium will be the 16th edition of the Sydney Chapter’s annual symposiums designed to keep the engineering profession aware of recent developments in geotechnical aspects of roads and rail tracks in civil and geotechnical engineering.

The symposium will offer owners, suppliers, contractors, civil and geotechnical consultants a unique opportunity to promote their products and services to a wide cross-section of the industry, through sponsoring the symposium.

Dr Pells presentation

On 22 March, Dr. Pells gave a talk entitled “What happened to the mechanics in rock mechanics and the geology in engineering geology?” to the Newcastle Chapter. In the photo, he is standing with Prof. Stephen Fityus.

Nominations for the Rocha Medal 2014

An invitation is now being extended to the whole Rock Mechanics community for nomination for the Rocha Medal 2014.

Nominations for the Rocha Medal for an outstanding doctoral thesis in rock mechanics closes 31 Dec 2012.

More information

18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE’13)

The deadline for abstract submission to the AGS is 15 March 2012. Abstracts should be:

  • Submitted on this template
  • Comprise between 250-500 words
  • Use 10 pt Arial font
  • Not exceed one page
  • At least one author must be a member of the ISSMGE.

Please submit your abstract directly to the AGS Secretary, Peter Robinson (secretary@australiangeomechanics.org) and not via the conference web site. As per normal ISSMGE practice, the final papers will be limited to 4 pages and will be due on 15 January 2013.

Notification of abstract acceptance from the AGS will be given by 15 April 2012.

Rocha Medal nominations now accepted

An invitation is now being extended to the whole Rock Mechanics community, for nomination for the Rocha Medal 2014.

Each nomination shall conform to the ISRM By-law No. 7 attached, namely as concerns Article 3, and shall be received by the ISRM Secretary-General not later than 31 December 2012. Therefore, your action in disseminating this information among the prospective nominees for the ROCHA MEDAL 2014 will be greatly appreciated.

Rocha Medal 2014 – Application Details

Contact the ISRM to nominate for this annual prize.

2011 Annual General Meeting

The 2011 Annual General Meeting will be held at 6 pm on Monday 21st November 2011 at Level 11, 108 King William Street, Adelaide.

All members of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) are invited to attend and encouraged to nominate for committee membership for 2012.

The work of the committee during 2012 will include organising ten technical meetings including a seminar and a field trip, involvement in the affairs of the SA division of Engineers Australia, involvement in the affairs of the national division of the AGS and electing members to the AGS National Committee which meets twice each year. Nominations are required for committee members. Office bearers will be elected from amongst the committee members at a later date.

Details and committee nomination form

Hans Cloos medal nominations

Nominations for the Hans Cloos medal should be sent to the IAEG Secretary General before October 15, 2011 and must include the following documents:

  1. a copy of the nominee’s curriculum vitae;
  2. a list of publications;
  3. a statement of support for the nominee which should not be longer than two single spaced typed A4 pages.

For more information on the Hans Cloos medal, including the bylaws, see the Awards page.

Dr. Peter Hatherly seminar to the AGS Newcastle Chapter

Dr Peter Hatherly with David Knott, Secretary of the AGS Newcastle ChapterIn August 2011, Dr. Peter Hatherly gave a seminar to the AGS Newcastle Chapter on building 3D models of rock strength using geophysical logs.

Peter is shown here with David Knott, Secretary of the AGS Newcastle Chapter.

Dr. Jim Hambleton congratulates Ph.D. student Mohammad Pournaghiazar

Dr Jim Hambleton congratulates Ph.D. student Mohammad Pournaghiazar

Dr. Jim Hambleton from the University of Newcastle congratulates Ph.D. student Mohammad Pournaghiazar from The University of New South Wales on receiving the 2011 AGS NSW Research Award for his research on cone penetration tests in unsaturated soils.

Harry Poulos recently presented ‘A Framework for Forensic Foundation Engineering’

Jason Lee and Harry PoulosJason Lee, Chair of AGS Newcastle Chapter, is pictured with Harry Poulos who recently presented ‘A Framework for Forensic Foundation Engineering’

Publications of the Newcastle Chapter

Publications of the Newcastle Chapter are listed in the AGS shop.

Stephen Fityus presents the 2008 AGS Newcastle Chapter prize to David Rutter

Stephen Fityus presents the 2008 AGS Newcastle Chapter prize to David Rutter