Christoph Kraus – Young Geoprofessionals Representative
2024 feels like it has flown by, with lots of YGP events and activities. I’ve provided an update on some of the highlights below. As always, if you are keen to be involved or have ideas for future events and opportunities, please feel free to get in touch via email (ygp@nzgs.org).
Regional YGP Mini Symposia
This year we had four extremely successful regional mini symposia across New Zealand, with what may be the largest total number of delegates to date. In total we had 70 YGPs present at the four mini symposia: 28 at the Auckland and Northland symposium, 17 at the Waikato and Bay of Plenty symposium, 11 at the Wellington symposium, and 14 at the Christchurch symposium.
The great turnout and success of these symposia is testament to all the hard work that the local organisers have put into organising the symposia and making sure they run smoothly. A big thank you goes out to all the organisers of this year’s events: Tommy Lam, Josef Berry, Blair Matheson (Auckland and Northland), Rhiannon Robinson, Alex Zohrab (Waikato and Bay of Plenty), Meenakshi Patel, Theo Calkin (Wellington), Izzy Raziff, and Tom Tremain (Christchurch). You have all done an amazing job, which resulted in the symposia being a great experience for everyone involved.
A big thank you also goes to all the mentors and NZGS representatives who attended the symposia: Samantha MacKay, Regan King, Liam Wotherspoon, Rolando Orense (Auckland and Northland), Harry Wahab, Kirstin Brown, Jesse Beetham (Waikato and Bay of Plenty), Beverley Curley, Emilia Stocks, Alan Wightman (Wellington), Romy Ridl, Camilla Gibbons, and Ioannis Antonopoulos (Christchurch). We really appreciate your time and dedication to these events, and to supporting the next generation of geo-professionals in New Zealand. I also want to thank Geotechnics, Redi-Rock and Geobrugg for sponsoring the symposia. Without your continued support these events wouldn’t be possible.
Finally, I want to congratulate all the winners of this year’s symposia: Jerry Lei and Hamish Foy (Auckland and Northland), Joao Pedro de Souza Oliveira (Waikato and Bay of Plenty), Rebecca Till (Wellington), and Dion Dow (Christchurch). The winners of this year’s mini symposia, as judged by the mentors, have all received a prize toward attending the 2025 NZGS Symposium in Auckland. At the symposium, they will all present their winning presentation during a dedicated YGP breakfast session.
For more information about each individual event, check out the reports in this edition of NZ Geomechanics News.
15th Young Geotechnical Professionals Conference (15YGPC) in Adelaide, South Australia
At the time of writing the report for this edition of NZ Geomechanics News we are in the final preparations for the 15th Young Geotechnical Professionals Conference (15YGPC) in Adelaide, South Australia.
We are looking forward to lots of exciting papers and presentations, meeting our peers and making new connections, as well as a fieldtrip to Hallett Cove to round out the conference. As part of the conference, we will also run a heritage time capsule session, the outcomes of which will be submitted to the heritage time capsule project. For more information about the heritage time capsule project visit: https://htc.issmge.org/.
We will provide an update on the conference in the next edition of Geomechanics News.
International Societies
The international society young professional’s coordinators, Lauren Foote (International Association for Engineering Geology – IAEG), Meenakshi Patel (International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering – ISSMGE), Mohamud Hassan (International Society of Rock Mechanics – ISRM), and I continue to meet once a month to share ideas and discuss what is going on in the international societies. We are currently looking at new initiatives and events for YGPs in New Zealand, and ways that we can best share YGP news and events from overseas. Please keep an eye out in the weekly newsletters for announcements around some of our upcoming initiatives.
I also want to take the opportunity to congratulate Lauren for having recently been elected to the IAEG Young Engineering Geologists committee!
Public Outreach at the EarthFest in Dunedin
At the time of writing this report, Lauren Foote and I are preparing to represent the New Zealand Geotechnical Society at this year’s EarthFest in Dunedin. EarthFest is associated with the annual conference of the Geoscience Society of New Zealand, and the aim of EarthFest is to ignite people’s interest in earth science concepts and careers through a range of interactive exhibits, eye-catching displays, and exciting demonstrations.
Lauren and I will have a New Zealand Geotechnical Society exhibit set up with interactive activities for children, young people, and their families to engage with geotechnical engineering and engineering geology. We will also present a brief talk on careers in our industry.
We will provide more details in the next edition of NZ Geomechanics News.
2024 Auckland & Northland YGP Symposium
Aurecon, Te Tihi Level 3/110 Carlton Gore Road, Newmarket, 9th October 2024
Sponsors Geotechnics, Redi-Rock
The sixth Auckland and Northland Young Geotechnical Professional (YGP) Symposium was held on 9th October 2024 at Aurecon’s office, with 28 young professional delegates (39 geotechnical professionals in total) from various sectors, including students, contractors, consultants, and regulators. Presentations covered topics in engineering geology, geotechnical engineering, risk regulations, construction, and automation, providing a rich exchange of knowledge and networking opportunities.
Congratulations to all the presenters for their outstanding contributions. The Mentors’ Choice Awards were presented to Jerry Lei (Infiniti Studio) and Hamish Foy (ENGEO), while Connor Oey (Beca) received the People’s Choice Award.
Special thanks to our sponsors, Geotechnics and Redi-Rock, for their ongoing support. Their representatives, John King, Fergus Goldie, and Mohammad Mottaghi (Geotechnics), along with David Hepburn (Redi-Rock), attended the event. A great thanks also to Aurecon for hosting the symposium, with Wendy Wang providing valuable assistance in organising.
We appreciate our mentors, Sam MacKay (Aurecon) and Regan King (T+T), for their insightful contributions during the event. A big thank you to Professor Rolando Orense and Professor Liam Wotherspoon for supporting the symposium as NZGS representatives.
Tommy Lam, T+T, Josef Berry, T+T, Blair Matheson, Soil and Rock
Waikato/Bay of Plenty YGP Symposium
The University of Waikato Tauranga Campus, Wednesday 16th October 2024
Sponsors Geotechnics & RediRock
The recent Waikato/Bay of Plenty Young Geotechnical Professional (YGP) Symposium, held on Wednesday, 16th October 2024, at The University of Waikato Tauranga Campus, was a resounding success. The event featured 17 dynamic presenters from various consultancies throughout Bay of Plenty and Waikato, showcasing the vibrancy and wealth of knowledge within the young geotechnical community.
A big thanks to our sponsors, Geotechnics & RediRock!
The two mentors Harry Wahab from Beca and Kirstin Brown provided invaluable guidance and insights, enriching the discussions throughout the day. Joao Pedro de Souza Oliveira from ENGEO took home the Mentor’s Pick for best presentation, while Mia Richmond from AECOM won the People’s Choice award.
The symposium was a great opportunity for sharing project experiences and lessons learnt, reinforcing the collaborative spirit of the geotechnical industry.
Rhiannon Robinson, Beca, Alex Zohrab, CMW
YGP Wellington Symposium
Engineering New Zealand office, 2nd October 2024
Sponsors RediRock and Geotechnics
The Wellington Young Geotechnical Professionals (YGP) Symposium was held on October 2nd at the Engineering New Zealand office, and brought together a cohort of 11 young professionals working in geotechnical engineering, engineering geology, and contracting.
Topics presented ranged from slip remediation works, the mapping of fault avoidance zones, piling works for a wharf and the benefits and challenges of using drones.
Congratulations to all presenters for doing a fantastic job. The mentor’s choice award went to Rebecca Till (Beca), and peoples’ choice was awarded to Paul Tan (WSP).
We would like to extend a massive thank you to NZGS and to our generous sponsors Geotechnics and RediRock for their continued support in making this event possible. We would also like to give a special thanks to our trio of mentors, Alan Wightman (ENGEO), Beverley Curley (GHD), and Emilia Stocks (Tonkin and Taylor) for their feedback and time. We really valued their insights, particularly during the Q&A session.
Thank you so much to everyone who attended and made the day a great success, the future of Wellington geotech is in good hands!
Meenakshi Patel, ENGEO and Theo Calkin, WSP
2024 Christchurch YGP Symposium
Aurecon Office, Christchurch, 3rd October 2024
Sponsors Geobrugg, Geotechnics
The Christchurch Young Geotechnical Professionals (YGP) Symposium was held on the 3rd October at the Christchurch Aurecon office. The event saw 14 brilliant young professional delegates from across the industry, including geotechnical engineering, engineering geology, environmental science, and contracting. All the presentations were of high quality and gave an insight into all the exciting projects that young professionals are making their mark on. The day was filled with laughs, networking and most importantly, lots of learning!
Congratulations to the all the presenters for doing a wonderful job! The Judge’s Award went to Dion Dow (ENGEO) for his presentation on Rock Fragmentation. The People’s Choice Award went to Jayden Neven (Aurecon) for her presentation on Multidisciplinary Challenges in Retaining Wall Stability of ex Napier Prison.
We would like to thank our sponsors of the event, Geobrugg and Geotechnics, from which Albert Kruger attended and provided insights on Geotechnic’s products and capabilities.
We would also like to thank our two mentors Dr. Romy Ridl (KiwiRail) and Camilla Gibbons (Aurecon) for providing valuable learnings and career advice to the presenters. We also extend our thanks to Ioannis Antonopoulos (NZGS Vice Chair/Stantec) for attending the event.
Presentations
Emily Kitchen – When soil gets sensitive: The Puketoka Formation of the Hamilton Basin
Jayden Neven – Multidisciplinary Challenges in retaining wall stability of ex Napier Prison
Janey Hansen – Ground Model Development of the Puketeraki Landslide Complex
Andrew Hills – Design, construction and monitoring of a temporary bored pile retaining system for the Bothamley Park trunk sewer upgrade, Porirua.
Ben Piesocki – Chatham Islands Shallow Foundation design
Dion Dow – Rock Fragmentation: MSc Thesis
Mohamud Hassan – Cyprus North Pit
Rose Sudworth – Haldon Station Solar Farm Geotechnical Desk Study
Owen Daniells – Geotechnical Challenges at the Devil’s Elbow, Central Hawkes Bay.
Rory Abbiss – Learning from pile design – M80 Ring Road Alliance
Imogen Daysh – The role of helicopter sluicing in earthquake response and recovery in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Abby Payne – Stillwater Ngākawau Line Resilience Improvements
Hannah Parker – GRP – A Case Study of Coal Mining to Modern Landfill
Andrea Pagani – Arnold Dam Strengthening
Nathania Cheung – Geotechnical considerations for the foundations of a commercial building extension in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Izzy Raziff, Engineering Geologist, KiwiRail, Tom Tremain, Geotechnical Engineer, Aurecon