Rocscience International Conference 2023
We were thrilled to host the Rocscience International Conference 2023 (RIC2023), an in-person conference from April 24-26, 2023, in Toronto, Canada. RIC2023's primary objective was to bring geotechnical professionals together to meet and exchange ideas on important issues and developments in geotechnical engineering, particularly combinations of emerging and mature technologies.
The geotechnical industry is rapidly evolving. Engineers are more connected through technology, technology is becoming more integrated than ever, and methods combining these technologies are becoming more prevalent. This movement towards combining technologies led us to the conference theme, “Synergy in Geotechnical Engineering – Success Beyond Individual Technologies.” We believe the time is right to highlight how far the industry has come with various technologies and continues to develop. The conference aims to create an environment that fosters new perspectives and helps attendees delve deeper into innovative approaches.
During RIC2023, Rocscience awarded the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Medal to Dr. Norbert Morgenstern, an internationally recognized authority in the engineering community. As both a practitioner and educator, Dr. Morgenstern’s contributions to the geotechnical community continue to benefit engineers worldwide, and he will give an address on his career.
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient
Dr. Norbert Morgenstern
Rocscience is honoured to award the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Medal to Dr. Norbert Morgenstern.
As an internationally recognized authority in the engineering community as both a practitioner and educator, Norbert’s contributions to the geotechnical community have and continue to benefit engineers around the world.
Abstract and Paper Submissions
- Tunnelling in challenging environments
- Slope stability analysis
- Numerical modelling of excavations
- Analysis of underground excavations
- Computational geomechanics
- Foundation engineering
- Artificial intelligence and virtual reality technologies in geomechanics
- Advancements in probabilistic geotechnical analysis
- Advancements in three-dimensional geotechnical analysis
- Dynamic analysis of soils and liquefaction modelling
- Continuous and discontinuous rock mechanics
- Innovative approaches and technologies for tailings storage facilities design
- Soil-structure interactions
- Settlement analysis and ground improvements
- Groundwater flow and seepage analysis
- Advanced geotechnical monitoring technologies – slope stability and underground
- Site investigations
All the accepted technical papers will be included in the conference proceedings.
Editorial Policy
Publication Guidelines
All submitted papers must be written in English and presented in English.
Authors must ensure that their submitted papers for RIC2023 have not been accepted for another conference or published previously. Papers must also not be duplicates of previously published manuscripts. (???Duplicates??? refer to papers that significantly overlap with already published manuscripts.)
All papers must be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word through the conference portal.
Every paper must:
- Include the title of the work, abstract, authors' names, affiliations, and e-mail addresses
- Follow conventions outlined in the paper template, including paragraphing, sections, sub-sections and referencing formats, use of italics, and labelling of figures and drawings
- Drawings and their labelling must be legible
Ethics
Authors of RIC2023 papers must correctly attribute knowledge or information from the works of other researchers. They must adhere to widely accepted ethical standards on identifying sources to protect against plagiarism. Authors must also disclose data sources, outline how they collected the data for their conference paper and adhere to recognized ethical research practices.
Authors must list research funding sources in their papers, including direct and indirect financial support and in-kind support. These sources may be listed under an acknowledgments section or appropriately identified in the main text.
Should reviewers seek clarification on matters such as originality or data sources, authors must promptly provide the required responses.
Review Process
RIC2023 will ensure that experts with relevant expertise review papers. The conference's reviewers will carefully read papers, treat authors fairly and provide constructive feedback. They will consider papers as confidential information and keep their identity from authors. If reviewers need clarification about any aspects or have a conflict of interest, they will immediately consult with the conference chairs.
Technical Course
As a part of RIC2023, three short technical courses were hosted on April 24th, 2023:
Course I: Stability Analysis of Tailings Storage Facilities using Rocscience Software
Course II: Settlement, Consolidation, and Liquefaction Analysis of Foundations using Numerical Tools
Course III: Slope Stability Analysis with Limit Equilibrium and Finite Element Software
Keynote Speakers
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/photo_keynote_Martin_300x425px.png)
Dr. Derek Martin
University of Alberta
Topic:
Performance-based design in rock engineering
Dr. Mohamed Meguid
McGill University
Topic:
An overview of the challenges and developments in the analysis of transportation infrastructure in a changing climate
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/RIC2023-KS-EllenRathje.png)
Dr. Ellen Rathje
University of Texas at Austin
Topic:
The Role of Data, Simulation, and Cyberinfrastructure in Geotechnical Engineering.
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/photo_keynote_YH.png)
Dr. Youssef M A Hashash
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Topic:
Advances in Nonlinear Seismic Structure-Fluid-Soil Interaction Modelling
Venue
Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
123 Queen St W
Toronto, ON
M5H 2M9
Conference Schedule
Download the RIC2023 Conference Schedule.
Conference Chairs
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Thamer-Yacoub-Headshot.jpg)
General Chair
Thamer Yacoub
CEO and President
Rocscience
Technical Chair
Reginald Hammah
Director of Rocscience in Africa
Rocscience
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Alison-Small_v2_2023-01-25-195005_xffp.jpg)
Technical Chair
Alison McQuillan
Director of Rocscience in Australia
Rocscience
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Alireza-Azami-Headshot.jpg)
Technical Chair
Alireza Azami
Director of Business and Research
Rocscience
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Sina-Javankhoshdel-Headshot.jpg)
Technical Chair
Sina Javankhoshdel
Geomechanics Product Manager
Rocscience
Organizing Committee
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Saiyona-Ghosh-Headshot.jpg)
Planning and logistics
Saiyona Ghosh
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Anthony-Salvalaggio-Headshot.jpg)
Registrations & finance
Anthony Salvalaggio
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Calvin-Heinrichs-Headshot.jpg)
On-ground logistics
Calvin Heinrichs
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/headshot_website-MarissaPonn.png)
On-ground logistics
Marissa Ponn
Registrations
Ruth Obeng-King
Publications Committee
Editor-in-Chief
Reginald Hammah
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Thamer-Yacoub-Headshot.jpg)
Editor
Thamer Yacoub
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Alison-Small_v2_2023-01-25-194955_zury.jpg)
Editor
Alison McQuillan
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Alireza-Azami-Headshot.jpg)
Editor
Alireza Azami
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Sina-Javankhoshdel-Headshot.jpg)
Editor
Sina Javankhoshdel
Marketing and Publicity Team
Conference Outreach
Reginald Hammah
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Sina-Javankhoshdel-Headshot.jpg)
Patner Outreach
Sina Javankhoshdel
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Saiyona-Ghosh-Headshot.jpg)
Marketing & Communications
Saiyona Ghosh
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/Calvin-Heinrichs-Headshot.jpg)
Marketing & Communications
Calvin Heinrichs
![](https://static.rocscience.cloud/assets/images/team/headshot_website-MarissaPonn.png)
Design & Graphics
Marissa Ponn