In this issue we have many papers from those in the earlier stages of their careers as well as those in the later stages passing on their wise words. Our NZGS Young Geotechnical Professionals who were not able to attend the Cairns conference were invited to have their paper included in NZ Geomechanics News. We were very pleased to receive the five papers that we include in this issue and perhaps not quite as glamorous as a trip to the sunny north of Australia, at least there are fewer H&S risks in reading this publication than the local wildlife in northern Australia poses!
We also have the winners of our annual student poster competition which again presented our judges with a very high standard of entries.
It is great to see such a broad range of topics presented by some of the generation who will be our future industry leaders, and a bit of a treat for those of us a little beyond the “young” category to be able to read.
Likewise, we have some wise words from some of the leading names in our industry who are a little further along in their careers than the YGPs. I wonder in another 30 plus years or so, who of our YGPs will become the next leading names in the NZ industry?
Along the same theme, we decided to have a look in the archives to see what was happening 50 years ago in the June edition of NZ Geomechanics News in 1972. We found an interesting article that was clearly a big topic of the day, causing unrest and likely a little nervousness in the industry – metrification. I cannot imagine the ensuing carnage if this was to happen today, the computers would struggle, the modelling programs would need rewriting, the automated calculations wouldn’t work, jeepers there would be a mess! It only reinforces in my mind the old “rubbish in, rubbish out” saying and that if you cannot write the calculation by hand, you probably don’t understand if the program is giving you the right answer.
Reading the “three generations” of Geomechanics contributions makes me appreciate the huge change that our industry has gone through in just a few decades, one of our “Not-so-New” articles presents the evolution of Engineering Geology as a recognised discipline in New Zealand. What is going to be the key articles of the day in this magazine in 2072?
This issue is also “New” in that we welcomed Robert Kamuhangire to the editorial team, but we have also sadly said farewell to Don MacFarlane as Editor. Don has given many hours over the years to NZ Geomechanics News and more broadly to NZGS and the Engineering Geology industry in
New Zealand, he has also recently been made a Fellow of Engineering New Zealand. We would like to take the opportunity to say a big Thank You to Don and all the best for the next adventure!
