Hyu-Soung Shin, Ph. D., is the director of Department of Future & Smart Construction Research at the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) and also the leader of its Extreme Construction (Space Construction) Research Group. He is also a professor at the University of Science & Technology(UST). He received his bachelor’s and master’s degree at Hanyang University’s Department of Mineral and Petroleum Engineering and received his Ph. D. at the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Wales Swansea, UK. He joined KICT in 2003 and was an adjunct professor at Hanyang University’s System Application Engineering department.

Daisuke Asahina obtained his Ph.D. degree in civil and environmental engineering form the University of California, Davis (USA). He is currently a senior scientist at Geological Survey of JAPAN. His main research interest is exploring how rock mechanics and hydraulic reaction intersect during fault activation.

Dr. Rostami is the Hadden/Alacer Gold Endowed Chair and Director of the Excavation Engineering and Earth Mechanics Institute (EMI) of the dept. of Mining Engineering at CSM since 2016. He is also vice president of the “International Tunneling Association” or ITA. He is the editor in chief of the “Tunneling and Underground Space Technology” (TUST) journal, member of editorial board of several rock mechanics and mining journals. He has a BSc in mining engineering from Univ. of Tehran, Iran and his MSc and PhD in mining engineering in 92 and 97 from CSM, respectively. He has over 30 years of experience in design, management, research, and teaching in the field of mining, tunneling, and underground construction. Dr. Rostami has published over 110 peer reviewed journal publication and 160 conference papers and many technical reports. He is the recipient 2022 UCA of SME Excellence in Education Award and 2014 Stephen McCann Memorial Educational Excellence Award in mining. He is the author of the chapters on the rock drilling and excavation of the SME Mining Engineering, as well as Underground and Surface Mining handbooks.

Professor Tae Young KO obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in the United States in 2008. Since 2010, he has been working at SK Engineering and Construction in Korea, participating in the development of underground spaces and the construction of several tunnels. In 2020, he was appointed as an assistant professor in the Department of Energy and Resources Engineering at Kangwon National University, where he is currently conducting research and teaching on underground space development and tunneling.

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.

Carlos is a Senior Mining Engineer, Academic and Researcher with 20 years of experience in the South America, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa mining industry. He is the Technical Mining Manager at GEOVIA, based in Brisbane, Australia. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Carlos has performed senior roles in large Tier-1 operations, technology, engineering consulting and investment companies such as BHP, Anglo American, Vale, Nokia, Maptek, RPM and NASA, with hands-on experience in mine planning, optimisation, automation, telecommunications, analytics, supply chain and finance. His diversified global experience has allowed him to gain holistic knowledge of all aspects of the mining business - from mine to port – and to acquire solid practical skills and technical knowledge in various open pit and underground mining methods of various commodities. Carlos holds a PhD in Mining Engineer – Mineral Economics from UNSW Sydney, a B.Sc. in Mining Engineering from the Universidad de Atacama - Chile, an MBA in Oil and Gas from Fundação Getúlio Vargas - Brazil, and a Postgraduate Studies in Economics from PUC Minas – Brazil.