Judges

Olivier Böckli

Olivier
Böckli
Switzerland

Olivier Böckli

Switzerland

1720

Shou Gen Chen

Shou Gen
Chen
China

Shou Gen Chen

China

Shou Gen Chen is an accomplished geotechnical engineer with a specialization in tunneling and rock mechanics. He holds a PhD in tunneling and rock mechanics from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, an MEng in tunneling engineering from Southwest Jiaotong University in China, and a BEng in civil engineering, also from Southwest Jiaotong University.

Throughout his career, Professor Chen has demonstrated expertise in tunneling in complex geologies and urban areas, as well as rock classification, rock support design, rock burst prevention, and advanced geological detection during tunneling.

His professional experience includes serving as a Professor and PhD Supervisor in the Department of Tunnel Engineering at Southwest Jiaotong University. He has also worked as a short-term consultant for the World Bank in the United States, a research scientist at the Queensland Centre for Advanced Technology in Australia, and a consultant engineer at ST Architects & Engineers in Singapore, among other roles.

Professor Chen has made significant contributions to the field through his extensive publications. He has authored four books and published over 280 papers, covering various topics in tunneling, rock mechanics, and construction ventilation technologies.

1721

Anne Kathrine Kalager

Anne Kathrine
Kalager
Norway

Anne Kathrine Kalager

Norway

Anne Kathrine Kalager has a Master’s Degree in Geology from the University of Oslo. One of her main focus areas, is the preparation for the performance of the projects. Good knowledge of the ground-conditions is always an important key to success.

Since 1989, she has held key positions in the performance of several major railway projects. Tunnels have formed a significant part of all the projects, many of them located within urban areas. The majority of her tunnel-projects have been performed by the Norwegian Method of Tunneling by drill and blast excavation. The extension of the National Theatre station in downtown Oslo, is probably her most spectacular project, with huge technical challenges and limited access in combination with measurements to reduce the impact for the neighbours. The project was successfully finalized after a three year long construction period.

Since 2007, she has hold the position as Project Manager for the 20 km long twin-tube tunnel at the Follo Line project. The tunnels were successfully excavated by four hard-rock TBMs operating from one centrally located access-point. She has followed the project from the beginning, and it will be handed over in 2021

1503

Catherine Larive

Catherine
Larive
France

Catherine Larive

France

A civil engineer since 1989, Catherine LARIVE obtained a doctorate in mechanics from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (ENPC) in 1997 on the modelling of structures affected by the alkali-silica reaction and won the ‘Thesis of the year’ prize awarded by the Foundation of the ENPC.

Specialising in concrete and concrete structure pathology, she joined CETU, the French centre for tunnel studies, in 2000 and soon took the head of the Materials, Structures and Durability Department. For 20 years, she participated in several tunnel rehabilitation projects. She has also been and still is involved in many research programmes. For example, she was selected in 2016 for an ITA Award, in the category 'Renovation/Improvement Project of the Year' with an innovative waterproofing system. She also received an award from the French association of civil engineering, AFGC, in 2019.

Her main technical fields are tunnel surveillance, inspection and diagnosis; concrete - especially sprayed concrete; and waterproofing methods. She is now extending her scope of activity from civil engineering to tunnel equipment, safety and operation, as head of research and partnerships, leading the CETU research and professional guidelines programme.
Catherine is the French representative within ITA’s WG 12 on Sprayed Concrete Use and is active in several other national and international committees, working on topics such as standardisation.

1722

RIck Lovat

RIck
Lovat
Canada

RIck Lovat

Canada

1393

Xavier Monin

Xavier
Monin
Hong Kong, China

Xavier Monin

Hong Kong, China

With the Contractor Bouygues Travaux Publics (BYTP) since 2002, Xavier MONIN took part in various large international infrastructure projects as Design Manager (Highway 2000 in Jamaica (30Km, road & bridges/civil), Gautrain Railway in South Africa (85Km, 10Km bridges, 15Km tunnels (TBM/D&B), 10 stations), with periods in BYTP Paris H/O at the Design Office in 2005 and 2010-2013 as Tunnel Design Manager. Xavier joined Dragages Hong Kong Ltd (subsidiary of BYTP) in January 2014 and the Liantang Road Tunnel Project (twin 2 lanes 4.8Km tunnels / TBM + D&B + Mechanical excavation and Buildings/E&M) till completion in 2019 as Technical Manager.
He also led several Tenders in Hong Kong (IWMF Waste treatment facilities in 2017 (artificial island + process plant buildings), Central Kowloon Route - Central Road Tunnel in 2018 (awarded), and T2 Trunk Road sub-sea tunnel in 2019 (awarded).

He is currently Technical Manager on the Central Kowloon Route – Central Road Tunnel Project (2.8Km twin 3 lanes road tunnel underneath Kowloon, from Yau Ma Tei to Ma Tau Kok, mostly D&B excavation, 7 faults crossings, 7m dia. TBM pilot tunnel).

1505

Nasri Munfah

Nasri
Munfah
United States of America

Nasri Munfah

United States of America

1723

Chrysotemis Paraskevopulu

Chrysotemis
Paraskevopulu
United Kingdom

Chrysotemis Paraskevopulu

United Kingdom

Chrysothemis is a Tunnel/Mining Engineer (MEng) with post-graduate studies (MSc) in Tunnelling from NTUA (GR).

In 2016, she completed her PhD which involved working in a joint Research Project between Queen’s University and ETH Zurich. In 2017 she was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Leeds (UK) where in 2019 she got her tenure (permanent chair) in Tunnelling and Rock Engineering. She has been also appointed as visiting Lecturer at Warwick University in the UK and Adjunct Professor at Queen’s University in Canada. Her research deals with Underground Space, innovative design, resilient infrastructure, societal impact. She has published more than 40 papers in international journals and conferences.
She also works as an Independent Private Consultant and in the past as Tunnel Engineer. She is an active member in the British and Greek Tunnelling Society Young Members Group, ITACUS and ITA-CET. She is currently an EMBA candidate at Leeds University Business School.

When Chrysothemis is not working you will find her spending time with friends and family at her Eden a magical place in Southern Greece. In Greek, her first name (Chrysothemis) means Golden (Chryso) Natural Law - Justice (-Themis), in case you were wondering.

1506

Alberto Rey

Alberto
Rey
Spain

Alberto Rey

Spain

1724

Mike Rispin

Mike
Rispin
United States of America

Mike Rispin

United States of America

Mike Rispin, P.Eng., is Vice President – Tunneling for Strata Worldwide.  He is also currently serving a two-year term as Chair of the Underground Construction Association of SME, the Member Nation organization of ITA in the USA.

He has over 35 years’ experience in tunneling and mining on a global level and has relevant expertise in disciplines such as explosives and blasting, ground control, heavy equipment, and mechanized tunneling applications.

He has worked in the past for companies such as Master Builders / BASF, Normet and Dyno Nobel.  Originally Canadian, he has also resided in Switzerland and now calls the USA home.

1068

Petr Salak

Petr
Salak
Israel

Petr Salak

Israel

Managing Director
Dr. Sauer & Partners

Petr Salak is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Chartered Manager with extensive experience in design, site supervision and design management of major infrastructure projects. Petr is a proud founder of the International Tunnelling Association (ITA) Young Members, a Steering Board Member of the International Tunnelling Association Committee on Underground Space (ITACUS) and cofounder of the Think Deep UK.

Mr. Salak moved to Israel in 2018 to establish a design office of Dr. Sauer & Partners in Tel Aviv. As Managing Director, he is responsible for the company’s operations, business development and providing technical expertise to infrastructure projects such as the Red Line (LRT) & Metro M2 Line in Tel Aviv, Sorek 2 Desalination Plant, Manara Hydropower Plant and French Hill Tunnels in Jerusalem.

1727

Oskar Sigl

Oskar
Sigl
Singapore

Oskar Sigl

Singapore

Oskar Sigl is a Civil Engineer and Partner, Professional Engineer and Expert Advisor.

He has more than 35 years of experience in rock and soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering, including detailed design of tunnels and caverns and other underground structures in rock and soil using shotcrete, rock bolts and ground anchors; cast in-situ and segmental linings; excavation support systems for cut & cover tunnels using sheet piles, soldier piles, diaphragm walls and bored piles; design of all types of deep and shallow foundations; consultancy for TBM tunnelling in soft ground and mixed face; geotechnical monitoring.

1616

Luis Eduardo Sozio

Luis Eduardo
Sozio
Brazil

Luis Eduardo Sozio

Brazil

1725

Barry Sum Pang Tuen

Barry
Sum Pang Tuen
Hong Kong, China

Barry Sum Pang Tuen

Hong Kong, China

Barry Sum has over 26 years of engineering experience in Hong Kong and Asia.

He has spent significant of his time in HK and other major South-east Asia countries in the last 10 years. He has been stationed in Bangkok for nearly one year for a metro project in 2009. He is familiar with the infrastructure market in Hong, Kong, China, and other South-east Asia countries (e.g. Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippine, and Singapore). He obtained the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Civil & Structural Engineering from the University of Hong Kong in 1995 and 1999 respectively.
He acquired the professional chartered engineer status for more than 20 years and he is now a fellow member of HKIE. He is now in progress to acquire the Fellow status of ICE, UK.

Barry is now working in MTR taking up the position of General Manager–New Projects. He is responsible to kick start the implementation of the 4 new railway extension projects from detailed planning and design to construction. He is also responsible for the transformation programme to uplift the projects delivery capability of MTR projects team. He is tasked to take forward all the initiatives for all new MTR projects. He is also responsible the execution of MTR new railway extension projects. He is also responsible to communicate with local industry stakeholders and overseas counterparts.

1617

Tris Thomas

Tris
Thomas
United Kingdom

Tris Thomas

United Kingdom

878

Ron Tluczek

Ron
Tluczek
South Africa

Ron Tluczek

South Africa

1726

Oscar Vardé

Oscar
Vardé
Argentina

Oscar Vardé

Argentina

Civil Engineer, Buenos Aires University, Argentina, 1959. Graduated Suma Cum Laude. Post-Graduated Courses on Geotechnical Engineering, Laval University, Quebec Canada, Berkeley University, California, USA, President of AATES, Asociación Argentina de Túneles y Espacios Subterráneos.

Since 2010 President of Vardé & Asociados S.A., geotechnical engineers involved on important projects in Argentina including high dams, tunneling, highways, bridges, port facilities, heavy industrial plants, buildings, and major projects in Latin America (Brasil, Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Venezuela).

More than sixty years on professional activity. In the last 30 years mainly  focused on Underground Works on soils and rocks, Special Foundations, Dams, and participation on Independent Boards of Experts to assess  the safety of  Dams and Tunnels in construction and operation in Argentina and South America.
Author of 140 papers published in local and international technical events on Geotechnical Engineering, Engineering Geology , Tunneling and Dams.

1618