20
Geotechnical News • December 2018
CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY NEWS
trating, but always rewarding experi-
ence that I will fondly remember. I
hope all members of the Board will
continue to give Nicholas the support
given to me over the last six years and
I look forward to seeing him and Lisa
take the Geotechnical News into a new
and exciting future. I will certainly
miss being an active part of the inner
workings of the Society, but I wish
everyone all the best in the future.
Editor
Don Lewycky, P.Eng.
Edmonton, AB
Email:
2018 R.F. Legget Medal Award - le médaillé R.F. Legget 2018
Awarded to Michel Aubertin
Introduction of 2018
R.F. Legget Medal Winner
by Michel Julien
Dear colleagues/chers collègues,
It is with my great pleasure and honor
to announce that the 2018 Robert F.
Legget Medal recipient is
Michel
Aubertin
.
Suzanne Lacasse
from
NGI has led Michel’s nomination,
which was supported by:
• Lee Barbour
– University of
Saskatchewan
• Jim Graham
– University of
Manitoba
• Jim Hanson
– California Poly-
technic State University (Cal
Poly), USA
• Thomas Pabst
– Ecole
Polytechnique de Montréal
• Ward Wilson
– University of
Alberta
• Nazli Yesiller
– California
Polytechnic State University (Cal
Poly), USA
• And myself from Agnico Eagle
Mines Limited
Michel Aubertin was until 2017,
Professor at the Department of Civil,
Geological, and Mining Engineering
at École Polytechnique de Montréal.
He is presently the Executive Director
of the CGS, and Professor Emeritus
at Polytechnique. Il a reçu un bacca-
lauréat en génie civil de l’Université
de Sherbrooke, un MSc.A en géotech-
nique et un Ph.D. en géomécanique de
l’École Polytechnique. Il a commencé
sa carrière académique dans la très
belle région de l’Abitibi, à l’Université
du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue
(UQAT) en 1984. C’est là qu’il a véri-
tablement été exposé pour la première
fois aux enjeux environnementaux de
l’industrie minière. Il est retourné à
l’École Polytechnique en 1989 comme
professeur et a pris sa retraite
officiel-
lement
en 2017 et a été par la suite
nommé Professeur Émérite. Il conti-
nue toujours d’être très actif au niveau
de la recherche. Il a reçu plus de 15
honneurs et reconnaissances diverses:
Pour ne nommer que quelques-unes:
la Médaille Thomas C. Keefer de la
SCGC/CSCE; la R. M. Hardy Address
de la SCG/CGS, les médailles John
B. Sterling et Julian C. Smith de
l’ICI/EIC. He is also a Fellow of the
Engineering Institute of Canada, the
Canadian Academy of Engineering
and the Canadian Society of Civil
Engineering. He was also President of
the Canadian Geotechnical Society in
2009-2010.
Michel Aubertin has made outstand-
ing contributions to the development
of Canada in the field of mining.
His key contributions include: cover
systems to control the production of
acid mine drainage; original design
of waste rock piles to control geo-
technical and geochemical stability
and minimize environmental impact;
analysis of underground openings in
rock masses (with or without backfill);
and use of waste rock inclusions in
tailings impoundments. He helped
put together a large and integrated
team that became a world-leading
research group on environment and
mine wastes management. More than
160 students were trained through the
years by this group at Polytechnique
and UQAT.
He is a deserving winner of the
CGS highest award: Here are some
excerpts of his supporting letters:
Thomas Pabst
a reconnu sa contribu-
tion exceptionnelle qui fait maintenant
partie intégrante de la pratique dans
l’industrie minière et de la consulta-
tion. … et la création de l’Institut de
Recherche en Mines et Environnement
et qui a réuni deux universités et 5
compagnies minières dans le but de
développer des projets de recherche
pratiques et appliqués fournissant des
résultats tangibles à toute la société.
Nazli Yesiller
, recognized his high
productivity in teaching, advising,
research, and professional service
throughout his entire career.
For
Jim Hanson
, about his yearly
lectures at Cal Poly:
“
they
always
have been captivating and represent-
Michel Julien.
