ISRM Board and Council Meetings, 22 and 23 September 2024
The 2024 ISRM Council meeting was held in the 13th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium (ARMS13) in New Delhi, on the 23rd of September.
43 National Groups were represented at the Council meeting, which was also attended by the Board members, the Past President Resat Ulusay, and observers from the Commissions and the National Groups. Reports of the Board members and Board Committees, as well as the forthcoming conferences were presented and issues concerning the FedIGS were discussed
Australia and New Zealand were represented in the Council meeting by Romy Ridl. The voting in this Council meeting was for the selection of the venue for the ISRM International Symposium 2026. The candidates were:
- ARMS14: Fukuoka, Japan, 22-26 November 2026
- Eurock 2026: Skopje, North Macedonia, 14-19 September 2026
Australia and New Zealand supported the candidacy of Japan. The Council, by secret ballot, selected the proposal by Japan, in Fukuoka, where the Board, Council and Commission meetings of 2026 will take place.
ISRM membership
The ISRM has a membership of approximately 9300 individual members and 167 corporate members, belonging to 61 National Groups. After two decades of continuous growth, the number of individual members has stabilized during the last two years at around 9300. The National Groups of Morocco and Iran joined the Society during 2024.
13th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium ARMS13
The ISRM International Symposium and the 13th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium (ARMS13) were held in New Delhi from 22 to 27 September 2024. The theme of the Symposium was “Advances in Rock Mechanics – Infrastructure Development”. Over 500 delegates from around the world, including leading researchers, industry professionals, and students attended the Symposium. Keynote Lectures were delivered by renowned experts such as Dr. Nick Barton, Prof. Ömer Aydan, and Prof. Krishna Panthi, covering topics from rock mass characterization to innovative engineering solutions. More details on the Symposium can be found in the detailed report by Romy Ridl who attended on behalf of NZGS, included in this Geomechanics News issue.
47th ISRM online lecture
ISRM online lectures are delivered every term. This year there have already been lectures by Dr. Jonny Rutqvist in March, and Prof. Carlos Carranza-Torres in June. The 47th ISRM Online Lecture was delivered by Professor Ranjith Pathegama Gamage from Monash University, Australia on 19 September 2024. The lecture title was: “Deep Geothermal Energy: A Key Player in the Sustainable Energy Mix”. Prof. Ranjith Pathegama Gamage is a distinguished academic and researcher in the field of Geomechanics Engineering, currently holding a professorial position at Monash University. He obtained his BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka. He then pursued his PhD at the University of Wollongong in Australia, where his research focused on multiphase flow in fractured rock media. The lecture is focused on sustainability and energy innovation, which are among the fields of interest of Prof. Gamage’s research and is available online from the ISRM website.
Rocha Medal 2026
Nominations for the Rocha Medal Award 2026 close on 31st of December. The Rocha medal is awarded annually for an outstanding doctoral thesis. At the time of writing this report New Zealand had not provided any nominations to the Secretariat yet.
6th ISRM European Debate on 16th October
The 6th ISRM European Debate’s title is “Failure criteria: Mohr-Coulomb vs Hoek Brown” and it was broadcasted on the 16th of October through ISRM’s YouTube channel. The speakers were Joseph Labuz from University of Minnesota, USA and Ming Cai from Laurentian University, Canada. The series of debates aims to stimulate communications among academics and practitioners of rock mechanics and rock engineering in Europe. The debates are held virtually, and each one will have two speakers with different perspectives on a hot rock engineering topic or a specific technical aspect of rock mechanics. One of the main aims is also to collect opinions and suggestions from the rock mechanics community. The debate is available to watch on the ISRM YouTube channel.
17th ISRM International Congress – invitation for proposals
ISRM National Groups interested in hosting the 17th International Congress of the ISRM, to take place in the year 2031, are now invited to submit their proposals. NZGS has decided to try again to host this flagship event for ISRM, which will elevate the profile of the local industry and showcase the good happening in New Zealand in the space of projects related to rock engineering, especially in the seismic design and natural disasters recovery fields. The deadline for the written proposal is 16 February 2025. The proposal will be supported by an oral presentation at the 2025 Council meeting in Trondheim, Norway, in 2025 and the final decision will be made at the ISRM Council meeting in 2026 in Japan.
In memory of
Dr Evert Hoek passed away on the morning of Saturday, 6 July 2024.
Evert Hoek was a true giant in rock mechanics, rock engineering and ISRM remembers his contributions, namely the memorable 1st ISRM Leopold Müller Lecture in 1991 “When is Design in Rock Engineering Acceptable”, which is available on the ISRM website.
New ISRM Committees and Commissions
ISRM has operated three committees up to the beginning of 2024. In March 2024 in the Board meeting held in Costa Rica, the Board decided to add one more committee, therefore ISRM operates four committees now:
- the Education Fund Committee,
- Young Members’ Committee,
- Technical Oversight Committee,
- Communication Committee.
Additionally, regarding the Commissions, the Board approved a total of 22 Commissions. In addition to the Commissions that were active in the previous Board, newly approved Commissions are:
- AI in Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering,
- Beyond Limits – Rocks in the Face of Extreme Conditions,
- Bio-Rock Mechanics,
- Earthquake Motions in Rock Engineering,
- Mechanics of Ancient Rock Structures,
- Risks and Reliability in Rock Slope Engineering,
- Rock Weathering and Erosion,
- Estimation of Rock Mass Strength and Deformability,
- Ultradeep Rock Mass Mechanics and Engineering.
In the 22 commissions there is no representation of New Zealand, while Australia is well represented. There are a few commissions where New Zealand could contribute, such as Earthquake Motions in Rock Engineering – EMIRE, Risks and Reliability in Rock Slope Engineering, Rock Weathering and Erosion, Soft Rocks. NZGS is intending to explore New Zealand representation further, and expressions of interest may be issued to the members in the next few months. Watch this space!