Best paper award at the 53rd US Rock Mechanics / Geomechanics Symposium

Dr Louis Wong (2nd right) and Ms Yahui Zhang (1st right) received the Best Paper Award from the ARMA President Dr. Joseph P. Morris (1st left) and the 53rd US Rock Mechanics / Geomechanics Symposium Co-Chair Dr Evangelia Ieronymaki (2nd left)

The US Rock Mechanics / Geomechanics Symposium annually organised by the American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA) is one of the most important and appealing events in the fields of rock mechanics, rock engineering, and geomechanics. This year, the 53^rd conference was held during 23 - 26 June in New York City, USA. Dr Louis Wong (co-authored with his current PhD student Yahui Zhang) from the Department of Earth Sciences won the best paper award, for the paper “Numerical investigation of micro-mechanisms of thermal strengthening in rock”.

Rocks are typically weakened upon heating. Their research however suggests and explains why rock would be strengthened rather than weakened in a not so high temperature regime (25-175°C). This discovery has significant scientific and social contributions, in particular to most underground engineering and energy projects which are operated in mildly heated rocks. Congratulations to Dr Louis Wong and Yahui Zhang!