Since 1982 a bronze medal and a cash prize have been awarded annually by the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) for an outstanding doctoral thesis in rock mechanics or rock engineering, to honour the memory of Past President Manuel Rocha while stimulating young researchers.
From the ISRM news release following its Council meeting on August 28th, 2016 in Ürgüp, Turkey, we have learned that another member of the Geomechanica’s team, Dr. Bryan Tatone, will receive this prestigious award. Dr. Tatone follows the path of his colleague, Dr. Andrea Lisjak, who was awarded the Rocha Medal in 2015. A PDF of Dr. Tatone’s Ph.D. Thesis entitled “Investigating the evolution of rock discontinuity asperity degradation and void space morphology under direct shear” can be downloaded here. Dr. Tatone will be awarded the medal at the ISRM International Symposium Rock Mechanics for Africa in Cape Town, South Africa (October 2-7, 2017) where he will also give a plenary lecture on his Ph.D. research.
Dr. Tatone joins an impressive list of previous recipients that have made significant contributions to the field of rock mechanics and rock engineering. We at Geomechanica congratulate Dr. Tatone, an invaluable member of our team, on this prestigious achievement!