Susan Gourvenec is currently an Associate Professor at the Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems (COFS) in the University of Western Australia (UWA) having joined as a Research Fellow in 2001. Susan’s research has spanned tunneling, foundations and retaining walls, using advanced numerical analysis, centrifuge modelling and element testing. Her recent research has led to new design approaches for offshore shallow foundation systems and anchors, tackling the effects of combined loading and uplift. This work has led to awards from the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), the Australian and New Zealand Geomechanics Society and the International Journal of Geomechanics. Assoc. Professor Gourvenec is a member of the Shallow Foundations task group within the API Geotechnical Resource Group. She has authored more than 70 technical publications and leads the delivery of specialist courses on offshore geomechanics for industry and at Masters level within UWA. Assoc. Professor Gourvenec chaired the inaugural International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics in 2005, as well as this subsequent event, and in both cases co-edited the proceedings.
David White has been a Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Offshore Foundations since 2007. His principal research areas are pipeline geotechnics and foundation engineering. He was awarded his PhD in 2002 from the University of Cambridge. He held a Lectureship in Cambridge until 2007 when he took up his current position at UWA. Professor White has authored more than 140 technical papers including 6 conference keynotes. His publications have won 5 awards, including the Telford Premium, the Bishop Medal and the BGA Prize (twice), and the Australian Academy of Science awarded him the 2010 Anton Hales Medal for distinguished research. Professor White interacts closely with industry, acting as a consultant through the Perth-based firm, Advanced Geomechanics, and he has served on the editorial boards of three journals and on two ISO standard committees (concerned with jack-up foundations and pipelines). He is Secretary of the ISSMGE's Technical Committee 104 (Geotechnical Physical Modelling).
