AGS Adelaide Symposium 2023

Novel Solutions in Sustainable Geotechnics

The South Australia and Northern Territory Chapter of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) is pleased to announce its 2023 AGS Symposium entitled “Novel solutions in sustainable geotechnics” which is to be held on Monday 13 November 2023.

The Symposium forms part of the continuing programme of events organised by the SA-NT Chapter of the AGS and aims to showcase the application of recent novel solutions and innovations to address challenges in practising sustainable geotechnics. This symposium will be held as a face-to-face event in Adelaide.

Australia has in current years seen an unprecedented boom in infrastructure investment involving mega-projects, transport and rail developments. This symposium will present overviews of current design practices, novel technologies, innovative solutions, and case studies demonstrating application of advanced techniques, cost-effective and sustainable developments in the design, construction and management of geotechnical aspects in projects.

The symposium will bring together professional engineers, researchers, specialist contractors, regulators, educators and students to share and discuss their experiences on the topic of geotechnical aspects of sustainability and innovation.

Topics

The following topics will be covered during the symposium:

• Resilient slope risk assessment approach and rockfall modelling for remediation design.
• Surface movement reduction with sustainable ground improvement techniques.
• Application in projects of the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA) requirements and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).

Keynote Speakers

Dr Asal Bidarmaghz Senior Lecturer, Geotechnical Engineering, University of New South Wales

Asal Bidarmaghz is a Senior Lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UNSW Sydney. Her research expertise lies in Energy Geotechnics and Energy Geo-structures. Asal received her PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Melbourne in 2015. Following her doctorate, she worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne from 2015-2017. She then went on to work as a Research Associate at the Engineering Department, University of Cambridge from 2017-2019 before joining UNSW in 2019 as a Lecturer. Asal’s research activities are focused on geo-energy systems and energy geo-structures, with a focus on the hydro-thermo-mechanical characteristics of urban subsurface and underground structures. Asal is the Deputy Chair of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) Sydney Chapter and task force leader for the underground climate change initiative at the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (TC308 – ISSMGE) and the secretary of the Australasian Renewable Earth Energy Association (AREEA).

Dr David Och Technical Director Geology (Tunnels), WSP

David has a PhD in Geology with over 25 years’ experience and is the Technical Director – Geology  (NSW Tunnels Team Lead) for WSP Australia and is Associate Professor at UNSW. 

His expertise in tunnelling and engineering geology has led to key lead and advisory roles on major transportation projects. His recent roles include Geotechnical Lead for the  Sydney Metro City & SW and Sydney Metro West Projects and the Geological Lead on the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link project. He has also worked as CPS manager on the Coopernook to Herons Ck Pacific Hwy Upgrade, and as the Chief Geologist for Design and CPS on the Hunter Expressway Alliance Project.

David has just completed his overseas journey as part of his Winston Churchill Fellowship studying geotechnical databases at geological surveys including the BGS (UK), TNO (Netherlands), Swisstopo and GEUS (Denmark).

Confirmed Speakers

• Jon Whelan – SA Department for Infrastructure and Transport
• Lucie Missen – WGA
• Maria Pham – Aurecon
• Jenny Austin – Arup
• Ana Glavinic – SA Department for Infrastructure and Transport
• Ellaine Kokotis – SMEC
• Nicole Ilic – Arup
• Meg Wimberley – Arup
• Echo Cui – Aurecon
• Luisa Panuccio – Arup
• Peter Mitchell, Aurecon
• Michael Crisp, Mott MacDonald

Sponsorship Opportunities

The AGS is pleased to offer three levels of sponsorship for this year’s symposium: Platinum; Gold; and Silver. Sponsorship helps the AGS committee facilitate high quality events at competitive prices, and we encourage potential sponsors to consider supporting this event.

Interested parties can purchase a sponsorship online or send through an EOI to [email protected] by Friday 20 October.

Platinum Sponsor – $1500

• Two free delegates
• Opportunity to give a brief talk about their organisation
• One full page of advertising space in the proceedings
• Promotion of company logo on the day with prior advertising of this event.

Gold Sponsor – $1000

• One free delegate
• One full page of advertising space in the proceedings
• Promotion of company logo on the day and with prior advertising of this event.

Silver Sponsor – $500

• Half page of advertising space in the proceedings
• Promotion of company logo on the day and with prior advertising of this event.

Registration

Members are required to log in to access the AGS member price, which is not transferable.

More information about logging in to this website can be found here.

Payment via credit card is available and processed by Stripe. The Australian Geomechanics Society will not store or have access to your credit card information, and Stripe adhere to strict security and PCI compliance for processing online transactions.

Upon purchase, an email and a tax invoice will be sent to the buyer. Attendees will also receive an email with their tickets attached, as well as a link to download the tickets if they are misplaced.

Engineers Australia members participating in AGS technical sessions can record attendance on their personal CPD logs. Members should refer to Engineers Australia CPD policy for details on CPD types, requirements and auditing guidelines.