Imperial College London’s Lidija Zdravković to open 2024 GE Sustainability conference

Imperial College London computational geomechanics professor Lidija Zdravković will open the GE Sustainability conference with a session on “The application of advanced computational analysis to support the design of resilient structures”.

Ground Engineering's second Sustainability conference is taking place at America Square Conference Centre in London on 18 September.

Following the event chair’s, Arup associate director Stuart Hardy’s, welcome remarks, Imperial College London’s Lidija Zdravković will give a talk on how computational methods and sound soil mechanics contribute to sustainable infrastructure design.

Zdravković used her Rankine Lecture this year to cover the same theme, as she is keen to highlight how geotechnical engineering can play a part in creating a more sustainable and resilient society.

During her lecture in March, she listed the most pressing issues geotechnical engineers face today: reduction of carbon emissions, climate change effects, transition to renewable/clean energy, and design life extension of existing infrastructure.

“Geotechnical engineering is an integral part of civil engineering because our structures either rest on the ground, are constructed in the ground, or are made out of the ground,” she noted.

“And when you consider some of the processes that are happening in the soil, in addressing these various issues, it is inevitable that computer-aided analysis, or some form of analysis in the first instance, must come into place and must become prevalent because empiricism really would have little to offer in some of these applications.”

At GE Sustainability, she will offer insights into optimising structural efficiency and safety through advanced computational analysis and experimental validation.

Zdravković told GE earlier this year: “The integration of computational methods with sound soil mechanics and field monitoring must remain at the core of geotechnical design, coupled with the sound understanding of diverse computational tools which should not be used as black boxes.”

Read GE’s full interview with Lidija Zdravković.

To view the full event programme and to find out more information, please visit the conference website here.

Early Careers Challenges – deadline extension

Early career ground engineering professionals and apprentices, with less than five years' industry experience, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students now have until Friday (21 June) to register their interest for this year’s Early Careers Challenge (ECC).

The ECC, which was launched last year by GE and Mott MacDonald, involves a competition to solve a geotechnical challenge while guided by industry mentors. It offers those taking part the opportunity to collaborate with their peers, hone their research and presenting skills, take part in industry conferences, and gain wider exposure to the industry.

This year's ECC is focused on the major role ground engineers play in the sustainability race to deliver the net zero transformation.

It will require the chosen ECC teams to consider the site setting and adapt to client requirements. The teams will have to draw on case studies, industry lessons learned, use every research opportunity available and apply them to modern standards. They should also aim to use digital tools to prove long-term sustainable goals for their scheme.

Following a launch meeting on 26 July, the ECC teams will present the preliminary results of their work to expert judges at the GE Sustainability conference on 18 September and their final solutions at the GE Smart Geotechnics event on 3 October.

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