This award is for an international travel grant to the American Rock Mechanics Association Foundation (ARMA/F) to support the U.S. delegate to the 2009 and 2010 International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) Council meetings and symposia. For 2009 and 2010, the U.S. delegate is Peter Smeallie, the executive director of ARMA and the ARMA/F. In 2010, the delegation will be expanded to include Dr. Francois Heuze, who in 2009 will stand for President of the ISRM. Dr. Hueze's travel expenses in 2010 will be offset by a contribution by the American Rock Mechanics Association. Mr. Smeallie serves on the ISRM Council and represents the interests of the U.S. rock mechanics community. The U.S. delegate will attend the ISRM Council and Commission meetings as appropriate in Hong Kong in 2009 and in New Delhi, India, in 2010.
The intellectual merit of the trips is to enhance US geo-engineering and rock mechanics by providing an international perspective on important issues currently being addressed by ISRM such as international underground research laboratories, radioactive waste disposal, rock testing methods, application of geophysics in rock mechanics, and post-mining rock mechanics. The ISRM meetings will also allow the opportunity to generate international interest in rock mechanics research experiments at the proposed Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) and to update the international rock mechanics community on the progress and plans for DUSEL.
The broader impacts of this award go beyond the geo-engineering and rock mechanics communities. US participation in the activities of ISRM has a direct impact on issues of national importance through collaborative alliances fostered by the international society. These areas include resource exploration and production, national security issues, environmental considerations, and civil infrastructure systems through advances in tunnelling and excavation technologies
