Dr Simit Raval is Director of Undergraduate Studies in Mining Engineer and Co-Director of the Laboratory for Imaging of the Mine Environment (LIME), at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia. He is specialised in the integration of sensing technologies to drive applied innovation in mining, environmental and civil engineering sectors. He leads a group of researchers focused on utilising data from sensors mounted on various platforms, from satellite through to UAVs, to visualise, identify and monitor operational environments. He has received several competitive research grants, including FOUR nationally competitive ACARP grants as the project leader. He has supervised PhD research projects involving drone-based smart sensing (multispectral, hyperspectral and LiDAR), underground mobile laser scanning, image-based automated material characterisation, mine rehabilitation/closure, climate change and asteroid mining. He has received SIX teaching awards including UNSW Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (2020) and the International Tim Show Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (2018).

Kathryn commenced employment with BHP in their coal operations in 2014. Since this time, she has held Site Geotechnical roles at a number of BHP’s Bowen Basin Open Cut Coal Mines. Kathryn was recognised as a Chartered Professional in the geotechnical field with AusIMM in 2018 and is also a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland. Kathryn is a past chair and committee member of the Bowen Basin and Hunter Valley Open Cut Geotechnical Society. Currently, Kathryn is the geotechnical superintendent overseeing the geotechnical teams at multiple BHP coal mines.

David Tennant is currently working at Newcrest Mining as Senior Geotechnical Engineer within the Geotechnical Engineering team in Melbourne, Australia. David's expertise is in the field of geotechnical engineering and structural geology and has worked on multiple mines and deposit types throughout Africa and Australia. David's work has a strong focus on 3D structural modelling for geotechnical engineering design, both in open pit and underground mining. His experience includes having consulted and worked for major mining companies as well as junior mining houses.

Rebecca Dixon has worked in large scale open pit and underground mining operations, and corporate functions within Nickel, Gold and Iron Ore commodities. Rebecca has extensive experience in geotechnical design, risk and hazard identification, system development and implementation for operational risk management, and geotechnical slope monitoring systems and analysis. In collaboration with Mining, Technology and vendor teams, she currently focuses on developing standardised, fit for purpose, innovative methods for effective geotechnical risk management across BHPs WAIO assets.

Lincoln Tovey has worked in numerous geoscience and IT roles across both the Petroleum and Minerals sectors. As a former Geophysicist specialising in seismic processing, interpretation, and modelling workflows, Lincoln found a niche within the Technology sector, applying his knowledge of business processes to providing creative technical solutions. Having worked across Asia Pacific and Middle-East / Africa regions deploying new software and data platforms, he now is embedded at BHP delivering projects with a key emphasis on risk reduction, fatality elimination, and increased production outcomes.

Stefano Utili is Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at Newcastle University (UK) and founder of OptimalSlope Ltd (http://optimalslope. com/). He is Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineering. Prof. Utili is member of the International Technical Committee 208 “Slope stability in engineering practice” and has published extensively on the assessment of slope stability and the design of mine pitwalls.

David has nearly 30 years’ experience working in Civil and Mining industries and has comprehensive understanding of soil mechanics and geomechanics. David provides expert geotechnical solutions to underground (block caving, sublevel open stope, sublevel caving and longwall mining) and open cut operations in both metalliferous and coal resources. David specialized in civil tunnels, dams and mining consultancy before he moved to Australia. During career time in Australia, David has worked as a geotechnical specialist at Rio Tinto the North Parks Mine, Mount Isa Mine, Telfer, BHP Nickel West, supporting open cut operations, underground production and tailing dam constructions.

Dr Kar Winn is currently working as Senior Project Manager with Geomotion (Singapore) Pte Ltd. He is currently President (2016-2017 term) of Myanmar Geologists Society Singapore. He is a professional Geologist of American Institution of Professional Geologists, Chartered Geologist of Geological Society of London and European Geologist of the Federation of Geologists, Belgium. He is an associate editor of The Professional Geologist Magazine of AIPG. Mr. U Kar Winn received his B.Sc (Geology) from Rangoon Arts & Science University, Myanmar in 1976, M.Sc. (Geotechnical Engineering) and M.Sc. (International Construction Management) from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 1999 and 2005 respectively.

As a Director of Hexagon Mine Monitoring, Neal manages sales, service and support of the mine monitoring business in the Asia Pacific region. Neal has been with Hexagon since January 2011 and has undertaken numerous senior management roles, including leading the Product Management teams, New Business (Technology Partners and Autonomous Mining Strategy) and management of the American Mining Business. Neal has worked in Mining for 25 years, as a consultant geotechnical engineer, as well as roles in research organizations. He has a BSc (Hons) in Geology from Cardiff University of Wales and a PhD in Mining Engineering from UQ with a focus on Rock Mechanics.