Geotechnical News • March 2015
21
CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY NEWS
We welcome all new and renewing
members and look forward to your
participation in 2015. We are planning
several new programs this year and
encourage you to recommend a friend
or colleague to join the Canadian
Geotechnical Society so that we can
continue to improve upon the benefits
the Society offers our profession.
Members in the News
Michel Aubertin, PhD, ing,
FCSCE, FEIC, FCAE
CGS Executive Director/
Directeur général de la SCG
On January 1, 2015,
Dr. Michel
Aubertin
became the Canadian Geo-
technical Society’s Executive Director,
succeeding previous Secretary Gener-
als
Dr. Victor Sowa
(2007-2014),
Dr.
Jim Graham
(1998-2006) and
Mr.
Tony Stermac
(1987-1997).
Dr Aubertin obtained his BSc in
Civil Engineering from the Univer-
sité de Sherbrooke (1979), a MScA
in Geotechnique (1982) and a PhD
in Geomechanics (1989) from École
Polytechnique de Montréal. After a
few years of consulting, he joined the
Department of Applied Sciences at
the Université du Québec en Abitibi-
Témiscamingue (UQAT) in 1984; he
then became the first Director of the
Unité de recherche et de service en
technologie minérale (URSTM.com).
Dr. Aubertin joined École Polytech-
nique de Montréal in 1989 and became
a full Professor in 1996. From 1994
to 1999, he was responsible for the
undergraduate program in mining
engineering - a bilingual co-operative
program, jointly offered with McGill
University.
Throughout his academic career, Dr.
Aubertin has maintained an extensive
research program in a wide variety of
geotechnical topics including the geo-
mechanical behaviour of rock and rock
masses, analysis of underground back-
filled slopes, unsaturated water flow
in and around waste disposal sites,
design of covers to control acid mine
drainage, environmental management
of mining wastes and reclamation
of mine sites. He has supervised or
co-supervised, more than 100 graduate
students, including 28 PhD candidates
and 12 post-doctoral fellows. He has
authored approximately 230 refereed
papers and 100 technical reports and
articles and held the Industrial NSERC
Polytechnique-UQAT Chair on Envi-
ronment and Mine Wastes Manage-
ment (2001 - 2012). Since 2013, he
has been the Scientific Director of the
Research Institute on Mines and the
Environment (RIME UQAT-Polytech-
nique) at École Polytechnique.
Dr. Aubertin has been involved with
the Canadian Geotechnical Society
since becoming a member in 1980.
He co-edited with his colleague
R.P.
Chapuis
, the Proceedings of the 1
st
Canadian Conference on Environmen-
tal Geotechnics in 1991. He served
on the Executive and as Chair of
the Rock Mechanics Division from
1992 to1995, VP Finance from 1997
to 1998, Chair of the Geotechnical
Research Board from 2004 to 2008,
and President of CGS from 2009 to
2010. Most recently, he was a found-
ing member and the first Chair of the
CGS Mining Geotechnique Techni-
cal Committee from 2012 to 2014. In
every instance, Dr. Aubertin’s leader-
ship has moved the CGS forward in
many ways.
Dr. Aubertin has also been involved
with many other professional orga-
nizations and technical, review and
editorial boards, including five years
as Associate Editor of the Canadian
Geotechnical Journal. In 2013, he was
invited by the Canadian Council of
Academies to join the Expert Panel on
“The Potential for New and Emerging
Technologies to Reduce the Environ-
mental Impacts of Oil Sands Develop-
ment”.
Dr. Aubertin is the recipient of nine
teaching awards, numerous research
and professional service awards and
three CGS awards. He has presented
many invited lectures including the
2008 CGS Cross Canada Lecture
Tour and the RM Hardy Address in
2013. Dr. Aubertin is a Fellow of the
Canadian Society for Civil Engi-
neers(1999), Engineering Institute of
Canada (2003) and Canadian Acad-
emy of Engineering (2003).
Michel Aubertin, PhD, ing,
FCSCE, FEIC, FCAE
CGS Executive Director/
Directeur général de la SCG
Le 1
er
janvier 2015,
Dr Michel
Aubertin
est devenu le Directeur
général de la Société canadienne de
geotechnique (SCG); il succède ainsi
à ceux qui ont précédemment occupé
le poste de Secrétaire ou Directeur
général,
Dr Victor Sowa
(2007-2014),
Dr Jim Graham
(1998-2006) et
M.
Tony Stermac
(1987-1997).
Michel Aubertin au obtenu un B.Sc.A.
en génie civil de l’Université de
Sherbrooke (1979), ainsi qu’une
maîtrise en géotechnique (1982) et un
doctorat en géomécanique (1989) de
l’École Polytechnique de Montréal.
Après quelques années dans une firme
de consultants, il a joint en 1984 le
Département des sciences appliquées
de l’Université du Québec en Abiti-
bi-Témiscamingue (UQAT); il a aussi
Michel Aubertin.
