Local Organising Committee Members

Mr Darren Paul

7iYGEC Chair

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.


Brendan Scott

Technical – Editor of Conference Proceedings

Dr Brendan Scott is a lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering in the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering at the University of Adelaide, Australia. He has a Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Honours) and a PhD, and his research interests and expertise include ground improvement, unsaturated soils and in situ testing.

Prior to becoming an academic, Brendan spent 8 years working in consulting on a variety of engineering projects in the commercial, residential and industrial sectors. He also spent a further 5 years as the manager of EngTest, the commercial arm of the School of Civil, Environmental & Mining Engineering at The University of Adelaide that conducts commercial testing, consulting and contract research.

Brendan is a member of the Australian Geomechanics Society and the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. He was part of the organising committee for two Australia - New Zealand Young Geotechnical Professionals Conferences and was a member of the ISSMGE Student and Young Member Presidential Group from 2009-2013.


Lauren Foote

Technical – Pre-recorded Presentations Lead and Sponsorship & Exhibition

Lauren is an Engineering Geologist with ENGEO Ltd, based in Wellington, New Zealand and has over ten years professional experience. This includes land damage assessments following the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence as well as the 2016 Kaikoura Earthquake, in addition to geological hazard assessments at varying scales from residential to commercial across New Zealand.

Lauren is a member of the New Zealand Geotechnical Society and Engineering New Zealand. Previously she was part of the organising committee for the NZGS Christchurch Young Geotechnical Professionals Symposium (2019).


Somaye Sadeghian

Technical – Program and Panel Discussion Session Lead

Dr Somaye is a principal geotechnical engineering expert with 16 years’ experience in consultancy firms in Australia, New Zealand, and Middle East. Her area of expertise includes soil-structure interaction, tunnel, micro tunnel, and shafts modeling and design, earth retaining systems, ground improvement technics, numerical modeling (FEM, DEM, and FDM), and geotechnical earthquake engineering.

Her PhD, and MSc is in Geotechnical Engineering from Tehran University and her BSc is in civil-structural engineering. Her PhD research focused on advanced constitutive models and she has 14 published papers in conference proceedings and international journals.


Daniel King

Finance


Jonathon Sutton

Social Program

Jonathon is a Geotechnical/Rock Mechanics Engineer in the Brisbane Ground Engineering team of Golder Associates and over 10 years’ experience in Australia, Asia and Africa. Extensive range of technical, client and management experience on a range of projects from initial concept stage development through competitive tendering, detailed design, construction, and operational management.

Join our mailing list
  • Key Dates

  • Abstract submissions closed 31 January 2021.
  • Notification of abstracts acceptance and full paper submission opens February/March 2021
  • Full papers due 30 June 2021
  • Peer reviews August/September 2021
  • Final papers due 20 December 2021
  • Final Paper Notification1 February 2022
  • Pre-recorded Presentations 14 February 2022
  • Early Bird Registration 15 March 2022
  • 7iYGEC29 April - 1 May 2022

Venue

ICC Sydney is at the heart of its very own Sydney harbour waterfront precinct, set amongst restaurants, retail and a vibrant public domain on Darling Harbour. View Venue information.

Discover Sydney

Surrounded by a majestic Harbour and scattered with beaches, national parks and green areas, this is a city that entices you to explore. Learn more about Sydney.

Committee

The Australian Geomechanics Society was founded in 1970. Its origins lie in the National Committee of Soil Mechanics of the Institution of Engineers. See more information.