Prof. Peter Dowd is currently Professor of Mining Engineering and Director of the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Integrated Operations for Complex Resources. University of Adelaide. His recent work has focused on the characterisation of rock masses in hot dry rock enhanced geothermal systems; for environmental risk analysis and assessment; for mining applications; and for stochastic modelling of flow pathways in aquifers. Recent work in spatial modelling includes the characterisation of karst systems and aquifers, climate modelling, and characterising the landscape and topographic features of Mars. He earned his PhD at the University of Leeds, UK, in 1978. Professor Dowd’s contributions to the development and application of geostatistics were recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1998 when he was elected to Fellowship of the Academy. In 2006, he was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in recognition of his contributions to geostatistics and for leadership in engineering education. Professor Dowd was Vice-President (2007–2008) and President (2009–2010) of the Australian Council of Engineering Deans and Chair of the Group of Eight Engineering Deans and Associates 2007–2012. He has been cited as one of Australia’s 100 most influential engineers by the Institution of Engineers Australia.
Chaoshui Xu is an Associate Professor of the
School of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Sciences, Engineering, and
Technology, University of Adelaide. He completed his BSc and MSc in Mining
Engineering at Northeast University, China, in 1983 and 1985, respectively, and earned his PhD in rock mechanics at the University of Leeds, UK (1993). He has
over thirty years of experience working for mining academic institutions and
the industry. His research interests cover many areas, including geostatistics,
mineral resource evaluation, risk assessment of mining projects, optimal mine
design, rock fracture mechanics, stochastic rock fracture modeling, and the
modeling of coupled fluid flow, heat transfer and chemical reactions in fractured rock masses.
Prof. David M. Lewis currently serves as the Head of
the School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, at the University of
Adelaide. He teaches Chemical
Engineering undergraduate students and supervise postgraduate students on
projects involving process technology R&D with a focus on design and
commercialization, and has international recognition in the biomass processing
industry. The theme of his research is low carbon solutions at the
energy–water–environment nexus. He received
his Bachelor's of Engineering in 1998 and his PhD in 2003 from the University of
Adelaide, Australia. From 2012 to 2016, he was on leave without pay from the
University of Adelaide managing a technology start-up company (Muradel Pty
Ltd.) and developing new commercial opportunities focused on production of
sustainable oils from hydrothermal liquefaction using renewable feedstocks such
as biomass and organic wastes. Currently, his research team is focusing on flow
chemistry for hydrothermal liquefaction, in particular developing commercially
relevant fully integrated sub-critical water technologies to provide
sustainable solutions for managing waste streams and by-products that have
significant organic content. This work encompasses fundamental and applied
aspects of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, and process
control.
