Highwall Mining (ePub)

Dr. Baotang Shen is a Senior Principal Research Scientist and Group Leader for Mine Safety and Environment at CSIRO Energy. Dr. Shen obtained his first degree in mining engineering in 1985 in China. He obtained his Ph.D. in rock mechanics in Sweden in 1993, and then worked with Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) as a research fellow in 1994-95. Since 1995 he has been with CSIRO and focused on issues related to highwall mining geomechanics, mining engineering and mining environment. Dr. Shen is specialised in mining engineering, monitoring instrumentations, numerical modelling, backfill technologies and rock fracture mechanics. Since 2004, he has been leading CSIRO's research team on mine subsidence control and mine remediation, and developed the non-cohesive backfill technology for old mine remediation. The team has completed several major projects funded by Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) and BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal and Queensland State Government on subsidence control and remediation technologies for a number of mines in Australia. Dr. Shen is an influential expert in fracture mechanics modelling. He is also the leading author of the recently published book "Modelling Rock Fracturing Processes" (Springer).

Dr. Shivakumar Karekal (Associate Professor in Mining Engineering, University of Wollongong, Australia) has Bachelor and Master degrees in Mining Engineering (India), and PhD in Mining, Mineral and Materials from the University of Queensland. He has over 26 years of research experience worked at several research organizations such as National Institute of Rock Mechanics (India), Centre for Mining Technology and Equipment (CMTE), Australia, Division of Mining, Mineral and Materials, University of Queensland, CRC Mining and exploration and mining division of CSIRO. He was associated with world renowned research organizations like Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI), Norway; National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan; Sustainable Mining Institute (SMI) and JKMRC, Australia. Shivakumar has executed several national and international projects and has patents in advanced cutting technology in USA, Germany, South Africa, and Australia, and has published several international journal and conference papers and many reports. His area of expertise includes advanced characterisation of rock, numerical modelling, fluid flow problems, rock cutting, acoustic emission and micro-seismicity, and geophysics and radar applications to rock mass fracture detection.