September 20, 2022

GeoCalgary 2022: the 75th Annual Canadian Geotechnical Conference

The countdown is on for the conference, and we can’t wait to welcome you to Calgary on October 2nd for the 75th annual Canadian Geotechnical Conference! If you want to start planning ahead or are still deciding if you want to attend, the program is now available on the website. We are also offering 5 short courses and the deadline to register is September 22nd, so don’t wait! In addition to the 32 technical sessions, we are very excited to bring to you some fantastic special sessions.

Special Heritage Session

To commemorate the 75th Canadian Geotechnical Conference and the 50 year anniversary of the Canadian Geotechnical Society, we will be holding a special plenary session on Wednesday morning. We hope you will join us at this Special Heritage Session to hear Suzanne Lacasse, Doug Van Dine, and Sarah Verwey take us through time in the world of Geotechnique in Canada and Calgary.

Professional Practice

Sean Mac Eoin is organizing two special sessions on the following topics that are particularly relevant to practicing engineering professionals:

Suit is a Four-Letter Word

Prompted by a re-release of a book originally published as the outcome of meetings at a CGS conference in 1982, this special session will examine litigation issues in geotechnical engineering practice. “Suit is a Four-Letter Word”, written by Hugh Nasmith, served as “A geotechnical engineer’s introduction to professional liability”. In this session we will ask: Is this book still relevant? What has changed? Is our specialty practice any better at limiting our professional liability now than we were then? A lawyer specializing in engineering and construction litigation will present perspectives on industry changes over the past several decades, the current state of litigation related to geotechnical engineering, and a few “life lessons” to awaken our interest in the subject. Insurance industry statistics will be used to set the context for risk management in our practices, followed by an introduction to tools our practitioners can use to “raise the bar”, reduce disputes, and address the challenging professional liability insurance environment in our industry. The session will be guided by Storer Boone, with guest speakers from legal practice and the insurance industry. This specialty session will be interactive, so bring your questions, successes, and horror stories to share.

Communication, Communication, Communication

This session builds on the themes from “Suit is a Four-Letter Word”. Starting with the premise that the most common cause of geotechnical legal claims is differing expectations among the parties to an underground project, we explore communication as the tool to achieve clarity of expectations. Case studies of both ineffective and effective communication will be presented and discussed through the experiences of consultants who will bare their war wounds and reflect on successes borne of effective communication. We will hear the perspective of a client to understand their consultant communication expectations, the bad habits that frustrate them and the best practices that delight them. We will then take a step back from the practical experiences of our panelists to understand important principles that underpin the science of effective communication from a leadership and communication specialist.

The conference technical committee is also offering a great session on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), which are important and enlightening topics that deserve to be discussed and shared in our communities and industry. This special EDI session will include a presentation based on Valérie Fréchette and Suzanne Lacasse’s paper entitled “Ten women professors in geotechnique from Canadian universities reflect on their journey in academia”. Elena Zabolotnii will share her work on “Charting the path for geo-professionals toward the constructive engagement with indigenous communities”. Lastly, Lucy Phillip will lead a panel discussion on Women in Mining with panelists Anne Marie Toutant, Steve Bundrock, Pamela Ellemers, and Róisín Kerr.

Last but not least, the conference program includes a special session on case studies related to Mining Geotechnique comprising several presentations by renowned and experienced practitioners. Scott Martens will deliver a presentation entitled “Essential components of safe upstream tailings dams – examples from the Alberta oil sands”. Ashley Gusikoski and Anne-Marie Dagenais will jointly present on “Management of change in Closed and Legacy Sites – Case Examples from Selbaie Mine” whereas Jeremy Boswell will present on “Improving the defences of tailings structures”. All great presentations, not to be missed!

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September 20, 2022

GeoCalgary 2022: the 75th Annual Canadian Geotechnical Conference