Local Organising Committee Members

Conference Chair

Emeritus Professor John Carter

John Carter has more than 30 years experience in teaching, research and consulting in civil, geotechnical and offshore engineering. His research interests include analytical and numerical modelling, soil-structure interaction, rock mechanics, the behaviour of cemented and uncemented carbonate soils, soft soil engineering, tunnelling and offshore foundations. He is the author of several hundred refereed technical papers in geotechnical engineering and engineering mechanics, covering a diverse range of topics from theoretical mechanics to experimental applications. His research output includes a significant body of work on the engineering behaviour of seabed carbonate sediments. Because of the expertise acquired during his research career in geotechnics John Carter has been called upon to consult widely to industry on a range of geotechnical projects including soft clay foundations, offshore foundations, retaining walls and buried structures. He has also been retained as an expert consultant on numerous offshore foundation problems for a number of major oil and gas companies, including BHP, Esso, Woodside, Wapet, Bond Oil, Amoco and Exxon. John Carter's experience with engineering projects has required him to work in Australia, Britain and the USA. He has authored more than 60 major consulting reports for a range of clients, including mining companies, oil companies, other engineering consultancies and lawyers.

Conference Co-Chair

Mr Graham Scholey

Graham is a principal geotechnical engineer with over 25 years of experience providing geotechnical and applied geological consulting services, primarily for civil infrastructure projects such as ports, railways, roads, utilities and building developments.

Graham frequently takes the role of technical reviewer or project director for geotechnical investigation and design consultancy services

Graham’s particular technical interest is in the engineering implication of geological conditions and geotechnical risks to major infrastructure projects. Graham has provided geotechnical services for major infrastructure projects through all stages of development – feasibility, route selection, concept and detailed design, construction, operation and maintenance. The management of geotechnical risk by effective investigation, design and construction practices has been a key element of the types of services Graham provides. Graham has lead major geotechnical investigation projects throughout the world.

Scientific Program Chair

Professor Mark Jaksa

Professor Mark Jaksa is Professor of Geotechnical Engineering in the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering at the University of Adelaide, Australia. He has been an academic for more than 30 years, before which, he spent 4 years practicing as a consulting geotechnical and civil engineer in Adelaide and Canberra. He has a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) degree in Civil Engineering and a PhD, both from the University of Adelaide.

He has published more than 170 papers, chapters and reports on various aspects of geotechnical engineering research and teaching. His primary areas of expertise are in the characterisation of the spatial variability of soils, probabilistic analyses, artificial intelligence, ground improvement and enhancing learning in geotechnical engineering. He has received several awards recognising his contributions to learning and teaching in geotechnical engineering.

Mark is a former Chair of the Australian Geomechanics Society and is the Immediate-Past Vice-President for Australasia and Treasurer of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. He is the past Chair of the ISSMGE’s Technical Committee, TC306, on Geo-engineering Education and a member of TC304, Risk Assessment and Management.

Sponsorship & Exhibition

Mr Sukumar Pathmanandavel

Sukumar has held various senior operational, business development and leadership roles in Australia in the past 20 years. He was Aurecon's Global Service Leader, Ground and Underground Engineering, (2016 to 2020), responsible for a portfolio of disciplines that covered geotechnics, tunnels, tunnel systems, underground structures, and pavements. Prior to this he was with Coffey group (1988 to 2016), and his various roles in Coffey included Group Executive Geomechanics from 2011 to 2015, leading a business that had offices in Australia, NZ, the UK, Middle East and Canada. Between 2013 and 2019, Sukumar was the Chair of the Corporate Associates Presidential Group, CAPG, a board level committee of the ISSMGE dedicated to promoting the interest of commercial organisations within the ISSMGE.

YGP Convenor

Mr Darren Paul

Darren is a Principal Engineering Geologist with 18 years’ experience. Holding degrees in both geology and civil engineering, he specializes in geotechnical investigations, ground model development and assessment ground related risk to buildings, roads, tunnels, railways, pipelines and other infrastructure.

Darren has specialist skills in geological and geomorphological mapping which he has used to undertake terrain evaluation and hazard identification studies in Australia, PNG and West Africa as well as slope stability assessments throughout Victoria and New South Wales.

Darren has received a number of professional awards including Victorian Young Engineer of the year 2008, Richard Wolters Prize (IAEG) 2010 and Australian Geomechanics Award for Best Paper, 2014.

Darren is past chair of the Australian Geomechanics Society and member of the IAEG technical commission on ground models. He is a teaching fellow at Monash University where he lectures in engineering geology.

AGS Chair: Dr Nina Levy

Social Program: Mr Jonathon Sutton

AGS Secretary: Mr Peter Robinson