SPEAKERS

Paolo Mazzanti (MSc in Geology and PhD in Earth Sciences) is Professor of Remote Sensing at the Department of Earth Sciences of “Sapienza” University of Rome and Co-founder of NHAZCA S.r.l., Startup Sapienza University of Rome. Paolo is the organizer and scientific leader of several international courses including the annual “International Course on Geotechnical and Structural Monitoring” that, in the last 8 years, attracted more than 700 people from 60 countries and 50 partners.

Paolo is responsible of consulting projects concerning tunnels, oil & gas, dams, open mines, large transportations infrastructures and landslides for National and International firms and agencies, in 10 countries. Paolo is member of the TRB (Transportation Research Board) Engineering Geology Committee and of the informal FMGM (Field Measurement in Geomechanics) committee and associated with several scientific associations (e.g. ISHMII, AIGA).

Paolo tutored and co-tutored more than 30 MSc and PhD theses in Engineering Geology, Civil Engineering and Remote Sensing and has been invited lecturer at several International Universities and Research Centers (e.g. Italy, France, UK, Ireland, Norway, Austria, Germany, USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Hong Kong, Belgium).

Paolo is author of about 100 scientific papers in international journals and conference proceedings concerning the following topics: a) engineering geology (landslides, subsidences, settlements, snow avalanches); b) geological remote sensing; c) geotechnical and structural monitoring; d) monitoring by ground based and satellite radar; e) monitoring of civil structures and infrastructures, including cultural heritages; f) geotechnical assets management.

Giorgio is an independent consultant with his Company SMAK s.a.s. since 2015.

He worked for ISMES, an applied research and service centre of ENEL (Italian Electricity Board) for almost 20 years as responsible of the geotechnical and structural monitoring units, being involved in many large and critical projects for dams, tunnels, landslides, bridges, foundations, hydrometeorological and environmental projects all over the world.

In 2000 he established FIELD, where he served as Technical Director till 2014, continuing his activity of system design, field assistance and data evaluation and management.

Giorgio is a member of ISO TC 182/WG2, which is responsible for drafting European Standards on Geotechnical Monitoring and is vice chair of ISSMGE TC220 Field Monitoring.

D. Jean Hutchinson is a Professor of Geological Engineering at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, and served as the Head of Department between 2009 and 2017. A registered Professional Engineer in Ontario, Jean conducts research on the assessment and mitigation of geomechanics risks related to rock slopes and ground surface subsidence, with a view to developing decision support systems founded on data collected from a variety of collection and monitoring techniques, always considering geological models and mechanics. Jean advocates for and participates in experiential learning, including field based education, and the promotion of inclusivity and diversity in STEM subjects.

Dr. Hutchinson is the Vice President for North America for the IAEG (2018 to 2022) and is President of the Board for the Canadian Foundation for Geotechnique.

Jean has had the great pleasure to supervise over 40 graduate students, and to teach a wide variety of courses to several 1000s of undergraduate students. Dr. Hutchinson in collaboration with her students, as well as numerous research partners, has published 1 book, 9 book chapters, 60+ refereed journal papers, 90 full length refereed conference papers and 80 extended abstracts / non-refereed conference papers.

Dr. Hutchinson has been very fortunate to receive a number of awards, including most recently the Glossop Medal and Lecture from the Geological Society of the UK in 2019, the Canadian Pacific Railway Medal from the Engineering Institute of Canada (2017), the T. Geoffrey Flynn Advancement Champion Award from Queen’s University (2017), the inaugural Excellence in Engineering Education award, from the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Queen’s University (2016) and the Robert L. Schuster Medal, jointly awarded by the American Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists and the Canadian Geotechnical Society (2016). Jean was also pleased to be named as one of 12 “First Women in Canadian Geotechnique”, by the Canadian Geotechnical Heritage Committee in 2018. In recognition of her work, Jean has been elected a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Engineering Institute of Canada.

Claudio Margottini (hab. full Professor of Engineering Geology) is the former Scientific and Technological Attaché at the Italian Embassy in Egypt and currently adjunct Professor at UNESCO Chair in the University of Florence (Italy), at Galala University in Egypt and at National Research Institute for Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) in Egypt. He has served at the Geological Survey of Italy (ISPRA) and, as adjunct Professor at Modena (Italy) University and Huazong University (Wuhan, China).

He is trained as an Engineering Geologist (Università la Sapienza, Rome, Italy, 1979, summa cum laudae) and Engineering Seismologist (Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, UK, 1983).

Extensively supporting UNESCO and other international organizations all his life long, his major field of expertise embraces the development of engineering geological techniques for the conservation and protection of Cultural and Natural Heritages. With projects in 26 Countries worldwide, during his career he received numerous honours and awards in recognition of his services, mainly in less advantages Countries of the world.

He is author of about 330 publications and books.

Dr. Hlepas leads the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Geotechnical, Geology, and Materials Community of Practice and is the proponent for USACE Instrumentation and Performance Monitoring.  She has 17 years of experience working as a geotechnical engineering on a variety of large projects including dams, levees, and confined disposal facilities.  Dr. Hlepas has focused much of her career on advancing the instrumentation and performance monitoring state-of-practice including updating engineering guidance, performing reviews of Instrumentation and Monitoring Programs, and leading the effort to implement an enterprise-level instrumentation data management system.  She has developed and taught multiple instrumentation and performance monitoring courses and workshops and has authored numerous papers on both geotechnical investigations and instrumentation topics. 

Dr. Hlepas was the chairperson the US Society of Dams (USSD) Monitoring of Dams and Their Foundations Committee for several years and is a member of multiple professional organizations.  She has a master’s degree in civil engineering from Columbia University in New York, a doctorate degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Illinois. 

Martin Beth is a geotechnical engineer, and has been working for Sixense (formerly known as Soldata) for more than 24 years, now as the group’s Technical Director and France Manager. Sixense is a large monitoring and instrumentation service company operating worldwide. Martin’s tasks include technical and operational support to complex monitoring sites, instrumentation systems design and general management support, and research and development within the group. Martin advises Sixense branches on large-scale projects around the world, for example in the past Crossrail in the UK, Bucharest Metro in Romania, Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement in the US.

Martin is a member of CEN/TC 341/WG1 Task Group 2, which is responsible for drafting European Standards on Geotechnical Monitoring.

Vanessa Bateman, PG, PE, D.GE is currently the Chief of Civil Works Engineering, Engineering & Construction Division at the US Army Corps of Engineers.  She previously served as the Principle Geotechnical Engineer for USACE as the Geotechnical, Geology and Materials Community of Practice lead. She has 25+ years in the field of geology and geotechnical engineering working at both the Tennessee Department of Transportation and at USACE with a wide background in geotechnics and geotechnical data management with particular interests in rock slope engineering, instrumentation, grouting, karst and dam safety working on many large projects such as the US 64 Ocoee River Rockslide, I-24 Rockslide,  Wolf Creek Dam Barrier Wall, Center Hill Dam Barrier Wall and Stability Berm, Mosul Dam Foundation Grouting, Chickamauga Lock, Kentucky Lock, as well as major transportation infrastructure.  

She has been extensively involved in Rockfall assessment and mitigation starting from early in her career working on the development of Tennessee Department of Transportations first Rockfall Inventory and as the lead for the Rockfall Program at TDOT.  She’s had a particular interest in instrumentation to monitor and assess landslides, rockfall sites, dams, locks and other large infrastructure with a long term interest in innovation.  She has been highly involved in construction, instrumentation and geotechnical data management starting with the Rockfall Management program at the State of Tennessee as well as on major dam safety modification projects at USACE starting with Wolf Creek Dam Barrier Wall project. She has a BS in Geology from Middle Tennessee State University as well as a BS and MS in Geological Engineering from the University of Idaho. She is Professional Geologist and Professional Engineer registered in the state of Tennessee and is a D.GE (Diplomate, Geotechnical Engineering) with the ASCE.

Vincent Lamour is Director of Infrastructure Market at Socotec Monitoring France. In 2008, Vincent Lamour founded Cementys, currently a 120 engineer SHM company, acquired by SOCOTEC group in 2020.

Passionate about risk mitigation and service life extension for ageing infrastructures, Vincent develops and markets innovative optical fiber sensing solutions and IoT devices in order to optimize maintenance based on measurement and data science.

Graduate of Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay with a Master Degree in Civil Engineering and Material Science, Vincent Lamour had twenty years of experience in the construction industry (R&D engineer at Lafarge Group) and academic research (Researcher at University of California Berkeley, Associate Professor at the ENS Paris-Saclay in the Civil Engineering Department). He currently holds 6 international patents on monitoring technologies.

In 2014, Vincent Lamour received the Montgolfier Prize from the French Industry National Association (“SEIN”). In 2016, He received the regional Projects, Facilities and Construction Award from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).