Serkan Saydam received his BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Mining Engineering from the Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey and completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He then worked at De Beers for 3 years as a project manager in Johannesburg, South Africa. Serkan joined the School of Mining Engineering as a Senior Lecturer in 2006 and since 2017 he has been working as a professor. He is currently Chair in Mining Engineering at the School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering at UNSW. A key focus of his research is to address the current needs and future challenges faced by the minerals industry. These are generally very complex engineering problems, as mining environments become more extreme and constraints are imposed due to increasing social, environmental, and health and safety standards. His fields of research include space resources engineering, ground control, mine systems design, mine internet of things, and technology integration and management. He established research collaboration with NASA, ESA and Luxembourg Space Agency, as well as more than 40 research organisations and universities globally. He has more than 250 publications and graduated with 16 PhD students. Serkan attracted more than $15M research grants. Serkan is known for founding and chairing the AusIMM’s International Future Mining Conference Series, and co-chairs AusIMM’s AusRock Conference Series and Off-Earth Mining Forums. Professor Saydam is the High-Level Advisory Board Member of EU funded illuMINEation Project and the Advisory Board Member of 7Sisters Mission, the first Australian Mission for the Moon. Serkan is also the inventor of the Virtual Mine – ViMINE mining engineering game. Professor Saydam received multiple academic awards including the 2020 UNSW Dean’s Award for Global Impact, 2019 UNSW Vice Chancellor’s Postgraduate Research Supervision Award and 2017 Society of Mining Professors’ International Tim Shaw Innovation in Teaching Award. Serkan is currently a Fellow Member of the AusIMM; President of the ISRM Commission on Planetary Rock Mechanics; Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research (ACSER) at UNSW; Deputy Secretary-General and Council Member of the SOMP (The Society of Mining Professors).

Dr Bobet is the Edgar B. and Hedwig M. Olson Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from Technical University of Madrid in Spain and a Doctor of Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Bobet’s areas of interest include rock fracture mechanics, wave propagation through fractured media and underground structures.

Ömer Aydan obtained his BSc degree in Mining Engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, in 1979 and MSc degree in Rock Mechanics and Excavation Engineering from University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1982, and his PhD in Rock Mechanics from Nagoya University, Japan, in 1989. Aydan worked at Nagoya University as a research associate (1987-1991), and at the Department of Marine Civil Engineering at Tokai University, first as Assistant Professor (1991-1993), then as Associate Professor (1993-2001), and finally as Professor (2001-2010). Aydan then became Professor of the Institute of Oceanic Research and Development at Tokai University, and he moved to The university of the Ryukyus, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan in November, 2013 and retired at the end of March 2020. He is currently Emeritus Professor at the University of Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan.

Yuu Tsukurimichi is currently enrolled in a master's program at the graduate school of integrated basic sciences of Nihon University (Japan). He is currently working as a technical staff at the Geological Survey of Japan, AIST. His main research interest is the development of a visual measurement system and numerical simulation of rock mechanics.

Nicholas Barnett has an in-depth knowledge of well construction and design from his experience in the Oil & Gas Industry and Engineering degree in Mechanical Space engineering, He is embarking on his PhD in Directional Drilling on the Lunar Surface with the intent on establishing a career in the Space industry. He has worked on 3 continents, managed up to 80 people in office & field/isolated/remote based locations, including personnel from over 20 different countries, with wide ranging educational/vocational skills. He is a firm believer that technical and operational education, training and understanding helps develop a team’s safety and efficiency. To assist with the team’s development, he has created training documents which are now being used worldwide as well as provided onsite coaching, and starter kits for new hires. He has aided in improving the cementing performance in North Sea Operations by 20%; ensuring compliance with social environmental licences; and improving data capturing & efficiency with a value up to $250M/year in savings.

Timothy Pelech graduated from the University of New South Wales in 2013 with First Class honours in Mine Engineering. He has 6 years of industry experience in open pit and underground mine engineering and operations. Tim is currently completing a part-time PhD focused on Off-Earth Mining Systems at UNSW while working at Deflector Gold mine in WA. His research interests include mine optimisation and in-situ resource utilisation for space exploration.

Serkan Saydam received his BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Mining Engineering from the Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey and completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He then worked at De Beers for 3 years as a project manager in Johannesburg, South Africa. Serkan joined the School of Mining Engineering as a Senior Lecturer in 2006 and since 2017 he has been working as a professor. He is currently Chair in Mining Engineering at the School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering at UNSW. A key focus of his research is to address the current needs and future challenges faced by the minerals industry. These are generally very complex engineering problems, as mining environments become more extreme and constraints are imposed due to increasing social, environmental, and health and safety standards. His fields of research include space resources engineering, ground control, mine systems design, mine internet of things, and technology integration and management. He established research collaboration with NASA, ESA and Luxembourg Space Agency, as well as more than 40 research organisations and universities globally. He has more than 250 publications and graduated with 16 PhD students. Serkan attracted more than $15M research grants. Serkan is known for founding and chairing the AusIMM’s International Future Mining Conference Series, and co-chairs AusIMM’s AusRock Conference Series and Off-Earth Mining Forums. Professor Saydam is the High-Level Advisory Board Member of EU funded illuMINEation Project and the Advisory Board Member of 7Sisters Mission, the first Australian Mission for the Moon. Serkan is also the inventor of the Virtual Mine – ViMINE mining engineering game. Professor Saydam received multiple academic awards including the 2020 UNSW Dean’s Award for Global Impact, 2019 UNSW Vice Chancellor’s Postgraduate Research Supervision Award and 2017 Society of Mining Professors’ International Tim Shaw Innovation in Teaching Award. Serkan is currently a Fellow Member of the AusIMM; President of the ISRM Commission on Planetary Rock Mechanics; Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research (ACSER) at UNSW; Deputy Secretary-General and Council Member of the SOMP (The Society of Mining Professors).