Geotechnical Advances and Challenges in Urban Development

Robert Mair is the Sir Kirby Laing Professor of Civil Engineering and Head of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Cambridge.
He was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) 2017-2018.

He is also one of the founding Directors of the Geotechnical Consulting Group (GCG), an international consulting company based in London. He has been a member of Expert Review Panels
on major international underground construction projects. Robert Mair has published many papers, mainly on the geotechnical aspects of soft ground tunnelling and excavations and has been an invited lecturer at universities and conferences in many countries.

Chris Haberfield is a Principal Geotechnical Engineer at Golder based in Melbourne, Australia. With 40 years of academic and consulting experience. Chris is internationally recognised for his work on foundation structure interaction and soft, weak and weathered rock and has extensive experience in piled foundation design. He has been awarded the 2005 Victor Milligan Award, the 2007 EH Davis Memorial Lecture, the 2009 Jack Morgan Award and the 2nd Gregory Tschebotarioff Lecture (2017).
Chris has been awarded the AGS Honorary Life Membership in June 2020 due to his significant contributions in supporting the geotechnical profession in Australia.

Idy is a fellow of Engineers Australia with 15 years of professional experience in Australia and New Zealand. Idy’s technical expertise is in the design of bulk earthworks, retention structures, ground improvement, and driven piles. Her current role at EIC Activities involves challenging and optimising existing design solutions and providing technical input into legal proceedings for court cases. Idy is currently the Geotechnics Team Leader within EIC Activities overseeing a group of 25 people. Idy is also an invited guest lecturer at Western Sydney University and University of Technology Sydney.

Theva Muttuvel has over 19 years’ experience in geotechnical engineering. After graduating from University of Wollongong with PhD in geotechnical Engineering, he started working
with Coffey Geotechnics in 2008. He is currently working as Principal Geotechnical Engineer in SMEC Australia. He has worked on several interesting projects in Australia and has gained extensive design and construction experience on major infrastructure, retaining walls and building projects. He is currently a member and charted professional of Engineer Australia. He has authored and co-authored in publishing 20 technical articles in journals, conferences and books.

Philippe Vincent has been with the Soletanche Freyssinet Group for 16 years. He is the Managing Director of Menard Oceania/REMEA. He is also the President of the French Australian chamber of commerce, NSW chapter.

Philippe completed his preliminary education in France and was awarded a Master’s degree in science from a French School of Mines before moving to Australia and receiving his second Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from UNSW in 2002. Since then he has maintained his links with university and participated in a number of ARC projects associated with a range of innovative geotechnical technologies.

Philippe is a Chartered Engineer in Australia, NZ and with the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation), in 2018 he was awarded the status of Fellow and Engineering Executive of Engineers Australia.

Philippe has been involved in several projects of significance involving design and construction of some of the largest Australasian geotechnical projects. Currently, he is involved in projects on the Sydney Metro, Melbourne Metro, Westgate Tunnel, Barangaroo redevelopment, Parramatta light rail, Christchurch Metro Sport to name a few.