Mark Christianson applied rock mechanics, computer interactive graphics & numerical modeling. Mr. Christianson has over 20 years of experience in the development and application of numerical models in geomechanics and mining engineering. He also is experienced in the installation and data analysis for various rock-stress and displacement measuring devices. Mr. Christianson has developed numerical methods for predicting fracture propagation from propellant-loaded gas wells. His work also includes analysis of long-term stability of waste-isolation excavations in salt.
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Andrew Corkum geotechnical engineering, rock mechanics, numerical modeling applied to mining and tunneling. Dr. Corkum is a geotechnical engineer with experience in rock mechanics (hard and soft rock) and soil mechanics, including the application of advanced numerical modeling for mining and civil projects. He is experienced in tunneling projects, ground control in mining environments, underground and open-pit mining, slope stability and foundation engineering. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Alberta, Canada.
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Branko Damjanac civil engineering, rock mechanics, groundwater analysis. Dr. Damjanac has experience in the design and analysis of underground excavations for oil storage and waste isolation. He has been involved in stability analyses of mines in both hard and soft rock and has developed a 3D model to simulate the coupled hydro-mechanical response of a fluid-saturated rock mass. Dr. Damjanac has been involved in development of models for numerical simulation of near- and far-field effects of underground nuclear explosions.
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David DeGagné mining engineering, rock mechanics. Mr. DeGagné is a mining engineer with experience in rock mechanics, including slurry and paste backfill, and sublevel caving. He has developed an alternative binder using recycled glass for use in backfill and has developed numerical models using PFC3D and the parallel-processing option to simulate the flow of ore and waste draw in a sublevel cave mine.
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Christine Detournay groundwater mechanics, numerical modeling. Dr. Detournay has experience in the development of numerical and analytical models for application to groundwater flow problems. She is a principal developer for the groundwater-flow and thermal models in FLAC3D. She also has an active research interest in methods for handling singularities arising in potential theory.
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Edward Dzik software development, numerical modeling. Dr. Dzik is a geotechnical engineer with a background in computational geomechanics. He has over 20 years of experience developing commercial and custom software for use in the mining and geotechnical industries and is a Registered Professional Engineer in Alberta, Canada. Dr. Dzik is responsible for FLAC3D.
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Sacha Emam quasi-static and dynamic behavior of granular systems. Dr. Emam has worked on the relation between micro-mechanical parameters and large-scale mechanical properties (elastic moduli, friction angle, dilatancy, etc.) of granular systems. He has conducted both numerical studies (distinct element simulations) and laboratory tests on granular samples (uncemented glass beads) under quasi-static loading, with particular focus on the roles of the packing history and the geometry of the produced samples as they relate to their small- and large-strain macroscopic mechanical properties. Dr. Emam also has been involved in the numerical study of the flow and jamming behavior of dry and cohesive granular media.
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Jason Furtney mining, geotechnical engineering. Dr. Furtney is a geotechnical engineer with experience in the petroleum and mining industries. He is experienced with mathematical and numerical modeling of geophysical systems. Dr. Furtney's project work includes an analysis of hydrocarbon reservoir monitoring techniques.
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Xavier Garcia geomechanics, numerical modeling. Dr. Garcia has worked on the development and application of numerical models for study of the emergent properties of granular materials. He has conducted numerical simulations addressing the relation between the construction history, the resulting microstructure, and the hydraulic properties, acoustics and quasi-static elastic response of porous materials.
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Yanhui Han software development, geotechnical engineering. Mr. Han is a geotechnical/software engineer with academic backgrounds in mine construction, civil/geotechnical engineering and computer science. He has 8 years of research experience that has involved a soil-nailing wall experimental study, analytical and numerical applications of poro-elasticity in petroleum geomechanics, and 4 years of experience in geotechnical consulting, software development and technical support. Mr. Han is a Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Minnesota, and he currently has primary responsibility for FLAC.
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Roger Hart software development. Dr. Hart manages code development, sales and support services for Itasca's software division. He has been involved with development, validation and application of computational models in geomechanics for more than 25 years. Dr. Hart also conducts and coordinates training courses and symposia for Itasca software. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Minnesota.
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Jim Hazzard geophysics, numerical modeling. Dr. Hazzard is a geological engineer with a Ph.D. in geophysics. His research involves numerical modeling of microseismicity in mines and underground excavations as well as in hydrocarbon and geothermal reservoirs. He also has extensive experience in software development — specifically, finite element programs for geotechnical and mining engineering. Current research is focused on modeling seismicity during hydraulic fracturing and fluid injection in fractured rock. Dr. Hazzard is a Professional Engineer in Canada.
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Tatyana Katsaga geophysical imaging, numerical simulation of fracturing. Dr. Katsaga specializes in geophysical data acquisition, including advanced processing and interpretation, and numerical simulations of fracturing processes. Her current research has focused on experimental and numerical investigations of various aspects of fracture formation and development in rock and rock-like materials. With over 10 years of experience, Dr. Katsaga possesses a solid background in computer-aided design and engineering using the industry-leading software packages PFC, ANSYS, AutoCAD and SolidWorks. She is the author/co-author of over 20 academic and technical articles.
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Loren Lorig geotechnical engineering, numerical modeling. Dr. Lorig has over 25 years of experience in engineering projects requiring specialized
geomechanics consulting. His area of expertise is in the application of numerical models to provide solutions to stability, support and dynamics problems in civil and mining engineering. Dr. Lorig has worked extensively at some of the largest open pits in the world and currently is working on studies involving transition from open-pit to underground cave mining at sites around the world. He has served as a member of consulting and peer review boards for several large projects. He has conducted over 40 short courses and has authored more than 50 technical articles,
and he is a Registered Professional Engineer in four U.S. states.
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William Pettitt General Manager. Dr. Pettitt specializes in the development and application of passive seismology techniques to induced seismicity focused on the microseismic and acoustic emission imaging of rock fractures and the integration of these techniques with numerical models. He is the creator of InSite, a leading commercial microseismic software system with licensees that include companies and universities expert in the field deployment and processing for microseismic monitoring. He has developed unique high-frequency data acquisition equipment for fracture monitoring across a range of applications. Dr. Pettitt is General Manager of Itasca Consulting Group, Inc., based in Minneapolis, leading the business and technological development of the company’s products, consultancy and support services, and supervising an internationally respected team of engineers, software developers and supporting staff.
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Matthew Pierce mining & geotechnical engineering. Mr. Pierce is a geotechnical engineer specialized in the stability analysis and design of underground and open-pit mines. He has experience in the application of numerical models to sequencing and support of underground excavations, assessment of backfill strength requirements and liquefaction potential, analysis of pit slope stability, and prediction of mining-induced seismicity and surface subsidence. Mr. Pierce is a Registered Professional Engineer in Canada.
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David Potyondy geomechanics and numerical modeling. Dr. Potyondy has developed and applied both continuum and discontinuum models to represent damage and flow processes on both a macro- and a micro-scale. He has directed development of the PFC codes, has developed the structural-element logic in the FLAC3D code and has developed novel techniques for applying micro-mechanical discontinuum models to fracture-related boundary-value problems, including the prediction of excavation damage produced by stress, temperature and stress corrosion.
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Matthew Purvance seismology, solid mechanics modeling. Dr. Purvance has developed numerical models to investigate wave propagation and earthquake source physics. In addition, he has developed ground motion constraints via physical testing/characterization and numerical models for fragile geological features. Dr. Purvance is also Assistant Professor in the University of Nevada Reno Seismological Laboratory, as well as being Project Engineer with Itasca.
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Zorica Radakovic-Guzina non-destructive evaluation, computational mechanics. Dr. Radaković-Guzina's research has focused on the areas of structural dynamics, non-destructive characterization of concrete, damage mechanics and wave propagation. She is responsible for FORTRAN and C/C++ programming development and support for Itasca's FLAC and FLAC3D software, and she assists with the development and testing of the Graphical Interface for Itasca Codes (GIIC).
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Tom Ruen software development & geometric modeling. Mr. Ruen has developed grid-generation tools for FLAC3D and 3DEC. He is the principal developer for the JAVA-based graphical interfaces for FLAC and UDEC and has developed the 3D model-viewing tools and GUI for REBOP.
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David Russell software design, numerical modeling. Dr. Russell is a software engineer with a background in mechanics and fluid dynamics, both theoretical and computational. He has participated in the design of Itasca software for more than 10 years.
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Douglas Stearley financial management, business development. Mr. Stearley, Financial Manager, has 20 years of experience in acquiring and managing businesses as an owner, CEO and CFO, with a concentration on mergers and acquisitions, finance, and human resource development. Previous corporate experience included responsibility for numerous projects and departments involving process engineering, industrial hygiene and safety, statistical budgeting techniques, total quality management, and new high-commitment work systems. Mr. Stearley also helped write initial business plans for a university-based program that brings together students and faculty with technology-based companies, and leverages academic research with real-world commercial applications.
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Reza Taghavi software marketing. Dr. Taghavi has several years of experience in software marketing and development in various industries. His areas of expertise are computer-aided engineering, computational geometry grid generation and computational fluid mechanics.
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Maurilio Torres software development. Mr. Torres is a software engineer with an academic background in civil engineering and computer science. Before joining Itasca, he developed and managed large software projects in various industries. His areas of expertise are C/C++ programming, object-oriented programming and other software-development techniques.
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Varun geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering. Dr. Varun is a geotechnical engineer with specialization in earthquake engineering and soil dynamics. He has experience with analytical and numerical modeling and has been involved with projects related to seismic hazard mitigation for waterfront structures, dynamic response of foundations, site response and soil-structure interaction.
Yichen Wang software development. Mr. Wang is a software engineer with an academic background in computer science and engineering mechanics. He has experience in developing large database applications, Web applications and interactive computer graphics. He specializes in C/C++, C#, and SQL programming, object-oriented design, and agile software development. Mr. Wang is a Microsoft-certified technology specialist in .NET frameworks.
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