EPFL Distinguished Lecture in Geomechanics

Prof. Detournay awarded the 2020 EPFL Distinguished Lecture in Geomechanics

Prof. Emmanuel Detournay has been awarded the 2020 EPFL Distinguished Lecture in Geomechanics for his significant contributions to the fields of hydraulic fracturing, drilling dynamics, and poroelasticity. The lecture will be held on January 20th, 2020 and is entitled, “The role of scaling in geomechanics”.

The Laboratory of Soil Mechanics at EPFL has established an annual award, the EPFL Distinguished Lecture in Geomechanics, to be awarded to scientists that have had a significant impact in the field of Geomechanics. Specifically, the award is intended for scientists who have made unique and particularly innovative contributions to their field.

In light of his outstanding achievements and, indeed, significant impact in the fields of hydraulic fracturing, drilling dynamics, and poroelasticity, we are delighted to announce that Prof. Emmanuel Detournay has been awarded the 2020 EPFL Distinguished Lecture in Geomechanics.

Prof. Detournay is the Theodore W. Bennett Chair Professor in Mining Engineering and Rock Mechanics at the University of Minnesota. He is member of the US National Academy of Engineering.

Previously, he was a senior research scientist at Schlumberger Cambridge Research in England. He holds a mining engineering degree from the University of Liège, Belgium and MSc and PhD degrees in Geoengineering from the University of Minnesota. His expertise lies in petroleum geomechanics, with two current research focuses: drilling mechanics (bit/rock interaction, self-excited drilling vibrations, drillstring/borehole interaction, and directional drilling) and mechanics of fluid-driven fractures (asymptotic analysis, scaling, numerical modeling).

Prof. Detournay will deliver his EPFL Distinguished Lecture on January 20th, 2020 in Villars-sur-Ollon in Switzerland. The lecture is entitled, “The role of scaling in geomechanics” and is open to the public.