Georgios Anagnostou has been Professor of Tunnelling at the Geotechnical Engineering Division of ETH Zurich since September 2003. Prof. Anagnostou was born in 1959 in Athens, Greece, and graduated in civil engineering from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1983. From 1983 to 1993 he was a research associate at the Rock Mechanics and Tunnelling Group of ETH Zurich. In 1991 he received his Ph.D. degree under Professor Kovari with a thesis on tunnelling in swelling rock. His Ph.D. dissertation was awarded the ETH Zurich silver medal. Subsequently, he transferred to industry and worked as an independent consulting engineer. In 1998 he joined a major engineering consulting firm in Athens as a partner and head of the tunnelling division. He has worked on a number of tunnelling projects in Switzerland, Greece and elsewhere. Prof. Anagnostou also teaches Tunnelling and Rock Mechanics courses at ETH Zurich. His research focuses on the deformation and stability problems of underground structures in soil and rock: tunnelling in swelling or squeezing rock; coupled processes; numerical methods; soil-structure interaction in urban tunnelling; face stability in mechanized and conventional tunnelling. Prof. Anagnostou is currently involved as an expert and consultant on several large tunnelling projects in Switzerland and abroad.

Daniele Peila graduated (MSc) in 1987 as Mining Engineer (cum laude) at Politecnico di Torino. Professor of “Tunnel Construction” at Politecnico di Torino, Faculty of Engineering and director of the Post-graduate Master Course on “Tunnelling and Tunnel Boring Machines” endorsed by ITA-AITES. Invited speaker in national and international congresses and in universities among which: Technical University of Petrosani (Romania), University of Innsbruck, Istanbul Technical University, ETH, National Technical University of Athens, Colorado School of Mines, Universities of Udine, Palermo and Florence. Since 2000 to 2010 Animateur of the Working Group "Training" of ITA-AITES and organizer and/or lecturer of the ITA-AITES Training Courses in Istanbul, Seoul, Prague, Budapest and Vancouver. Since 2009 Technical Director of the Executive Board of the Foundation on Education and Training for Tunnelling and Underground Space Use. Member of the Executive Council of International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, Italian Tunnelling Association and Italian Association of Geo-engineering and Environment. Editor of Italian scientific journal “Environmental and Mining Geo-engineering”, member of the editorial board “Tunnelling and Underground Space” and of the advisory board of “RMZ - Materials and Geo-environment”. Engineer specialized in tunnelling conventional and mechanized, mining, rock engineering, soil and rock improvement and rock-fall protection techniques and coordinator of many university research projects in the sectors of tunnelling and rock fall protection. Author of more than 180 scientific papers published on journals and on the proceedings of international congresses

Michel Chopin (FR /CH – G.C.I. Lausanne)

Manager - Executive Consultant in Geotechnical Engineering for Underground Construction Projects.

35 years expertise, mostly devoted in Ground improvement Processes - R&D (SOLETANCHE & GEATEC) and Consultancy since 1990 (GEOCONSEIL/SIMECSOL/BG & MCCONSULTING – Paris).

Eivind Grøv graduated from the University of Science and Technology in Trondheim (previously NTH) in 1983, with MSc. degree in Geotechnical Engineering and Rock Mechanics. Grøv has since graduation been working in the tunnelling industry mainly within the consulting business covering a wide range of tunnelling and underground projects including oil and gas storages, hydropower projects, road and railway tunnels including various subsea tunnels in rock. His experience covers also a wide range of expert services provided to projects abroad, like 6 years working in Saudi Arabia, but also Singapore, China, Chile, Russia, India, Hong Kong and many more countries, including also the Nordic countries.

Grøv is now Chief Scientist with SINTEF Infrastructure heading major research works. Grøv is appointed Professor in engineering geology and rock mechanics at the University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, NTNU lecturing and supervising both domestic students and foreign students at scholarships to Norway. He has held lectures and keynote speeches on several international conferences.

Grøv is the recent past President of the Norwegian Tunnelling Society. He is also a past Vice President of ITA (the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association) concluding a period of 6 years in the Executive Council.

Hans-Olav Hognestad graduated from Gjøvic Technical Highschool Construction in 1979, Norway & followed several courses on Rock Support & Injection. He is currently employed as a Technical Manager Injection in BASF UGC worldwide team.

Kurt Kogler (AT - Züblin) Managing Director and senior project manager,specialist for drilling & grouting works.

Harald Krenn (AT - Züblin) Senior Project Manager; Specialist for drilling & grouting works, measurements and mechatronic
systems.

Davide Michelis gathered his experience in underground work starting from his school career getting the Master of Science in Geoengineering with the specialization in tunneling and underground work.
Since 2006 he started to work directly in geotechnical field as site manager for an Italian drilling company dealing with soil stabilization, ground improvement, consolidation of tunnels and underground structures.
Since 2010 he started to work for MAPEI Underground Technology Team, the technical staff completely dedicated to provide technical assistance in underground construction projects and to develop new products together with the full assistance of Research and Development laboratory.
He was a speaker in 2011 during Sixth International Symposium on Sprayed Concrete in Tromso and he has been teaching in 2012 at Politecnico di Torino with a contribution on the use of injection method in weak soils.

Dr.Chris Menkiti joined the Geotechnical Consulting Group (GCG) in 1992. He has had wide experience in the UK and abroad. Dr Menkiti has provided specialist advice on tunnel design and construction, the effects of ground movements and associated mitigation measures. He has also been involved in the geotechnical aspects of design and construction of a wide range of structures, including retaining walls, deep excavations, sewage plants, pipelines, bridges, highways, embankments, petrochemical offshore facilities, dredging, land reclamation, ground improvement and power stations. Dr Menkiti has given specialist advice on seismic design and retrofit of tunnels and retaining walls. A large part of his experience was gained under secondment to owners, consultants and contractors.
In 1995-7, Dr Menkiti was seconded to the Client’s site team at Contract 102 for the construction of the JLE Project in London, where construction techniques included TBM and sprayed concrete lining (SCL) methods. He advised on instrumentation, monitoring, implementation of compensation grouting, tunnel behaviour and the impact of construction on structures and services.
From 1998 to 2001, Dr Menkiti was seconded to site in Bolu, Turkey, for construction of deep highway tunnels through very complex ground. As Chief Tunnel Design Engineer, he was responsible for review, approval and co-ordination of design submissions, planning and interpretation of instrumentation and geotechnical investigations. Dr Menkiti was involved in the evaluation of the effects of the large earthquakes of 1999 on the tunnels and the development of appropriate remedial measures, both for ground shaking and fault displacement.
From 2001 to 2004, Dr Menkiti was assigned to the design team for the Dublin Port Tunnel in Ireland. For this design and build contract, Dr Menkiti served on site for two years as the project Geotechnical Engineer, responsible for the design and construction of temporary and permanent works. Thereafter, he served in London as the Design Team Leader for tunneling works beneath the DART rail lines in Fairview Park.
Since 2004, Dr Menkiti worked on a range of urban and infrastructure projects in the UK and abroad including: the Rome Metro C extension, for which he was responsible for the design of ground movement mitigation measures for historical monuments, including the Coliseum, on the Amsterdam North – South Metro where compensation grouting was used, Dublin Metro North, 96th Street Subway, New York (with compensation grouting), many London Underground Tunnelling works and the Crossrail Project. For Crossrail, Dr Menkiti leads the GCG team that servers as geotechnical adviser to the Employer for the delivery of a new railway link with underground sections in London. Compensation grouting is one of the primary measures for settlement mitigation on this project. Dr Menkiti has given technical advice to barristers and solicitors in legal cases involving ground engineering and is the author of about 35 published paper

Heinz Ehrbar graduated from M.Sc. Civil Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich) in 1980. He then followed a diploma in SKU Advanced Management Program which he obtained in 2006. His professional highlights are:  
From 1981 – 1996: Electrowatt Engineering Ltd, Hydropower Department, as a Project manager responsible for the design and construction of several hydropower schemes in Switzerland and foreign countries.
From 1996 – 2000 : Electrowatt Engineering Ltd., Tunnelling Department Head of the AlpTransit Group and project manager for the construction section Sedrun of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, Deputy general manager of the engineering joint-venture Gotthard Base Tunnel South. Expert for underground constructions in Peru and Iceland.
From 2001 – 2006 : AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd., Deputy Chief Construction Manager and Head of the construction section Sedrun.

From 2006 – 2012 : AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd., Chief Construction Officer responsible for the civil construction work of the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel Member of the Executive Management. Heinz Ehrbar is currently the Vice Chairman at the Swiss Tunnel Holding Ltd., in Switzerland.

Sara Zingg is currently an assistant & Doctoral student at the Institute for Geotechnical Engineering, Chair of Underground Construction, at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland. She has co-authored some publications/conference papers such as: The effects of advance drainage on face stability in homogeneous ground. ITA-AITES World Tunnel Congress, WTC 2012, Bangkok. Tunnels face stability in narrow water-bearing fault zones. ISRM International Symposium, Eurock 2012, Stockholm.

Marco Ramoni holds a Doctor of Sciences from the ETH Zurich, Switzerland. He works currently as a Project Manager at Basler & Hofmann AG. His field of activities are : Underground Constructions, Road & Railway Tunnels, TBM Tunnelling in rock and/or soil, Conventional Excavation in rock and/or soil, statistics & reseach. He is a member of various societies such as : Swiss Society of Engineers & Architects(SIA), Swiss Tunnelling Society (STS), Geotechnics Switzerland (GS), International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM), International Society for Soil Mechanics & Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), Swiss Blasting Society (SBS).

Gilles Lequertier was born in Saint Malo (Brittany, France), town fortified from Ecole Centrale de Paris, specializing in public works and project management.
In 2005, he joined the large-scale construction division of Vinci Construction and took part in the major construction tunnel project Hallandsås (Sweden).  In 2007, he joined Soletanche Bachy and was in charge of the ground reinforcement at the west portal and Marchand shaft on the second highway tunnel in Toulon (France).  Then he accomplished the excavation of a sewage tunnel in Paris using a shield with partial face excavation and compressed air confinement for CSM BESSAC after a five years stop of the jobsite due to poor ground conditions and water inleakage. Finally, he joined Infra Tunnel SA and took the direction of the refurbishment of Tunnels du Mormont near Lausanne, the excavation of the tunnel and cut&cover on the Poya Project in Fribourg and currently the renovation of a railway tunnel in Sierre.
Those experiences have given him the various for the underground construction and permitted myself to develop certain skills in pre-suppport, ground reinforcement and tunnel renovation. The dim light encountered in those tunnels explained why he also appreciates the beauty of Switzerland Mountains by hiking or practising alpinism.

Giovanna Casanni obtained her degree in Civil Engineering from Politechnic of Milan in 1989. She is a Technical Director with Rocksoil SpA since July 2001.
Structural Civil Engineer with Rocksoil since 1989. As a project manager she has worked over the years on the design of numerous road, metro and rail tunnels. She has participated in the most significant and important company’s designs and projects, including the Venezia Station of Milan, constructed using cellular arch technology, the Tartaiguille Tunnel on the Lyon-Marseille G.T.V. line and the Bologna–Florence high speed line for more than 100 km tunnels. She is the author of about 23 published papers.

Piergiorgio Grasso graduated from the ‘Politecnico di Torino’ of Italy in civil engineering, he began his engineering career in 1975; and he is the founder, President and Principal Engineer of Geodata since 1984, which is a consultancy specialised in the design and management of underground works, both in urban environments and in mountain areas.

He was part of the ITA Executive Council member and was the ITA past Vice President. He also served the ITA Working Group 17 on “Long and Deep Tunnels” as its animateur and tutor. Mr. Grasso is one of ITA expert & is ITACET Foundation Vice President.

José L. Machado do Vale was awarded a Degree in Civil Engineering, Hydraulic section, at University of Porto, Portugal, in 1978. He attended post-graduate courses in Geotechnics at LNEC, the national Laboratory for Civil Engineering and in the New University of Lisbon, and in Advanced Business Administration at the Catholic University of Lisbon.
After experience at the State General Directorate for Hydraulic Works and at the University of Coimbra he joined TECNASOL in 1982, the Portuguese leader geotechnical company, specialised in grouting and jet-grouting works, where he became member of the Board and Executive and Technical Director. From 2007 to 2012 he was President of SOMAGUE, a world general contractor in civil construction, public works and engineering. In 2012 he joined CARPI, a private Italian/Swiss group that works in the field of geosynthetics, with whom he had had extensive cooperation in several job sites while working with Tecnasol.
He is the actual President of the Portuguese Society of Geotechnics (2012 – 2016) and member of:  the Portuguese National Committee of ICOLD, since 1998; the Portuguese Association of Engineers – Senior Member and Specialist in Geotechnics; the International Tunnelling Association; the International Geosynthetics Society.

Eng. Akira Koshima is the Technical Manager of NOVATECNA S.A. in São Paulo Brazil. He has been responsible for jet grouting works in Brazil and abroad since joining the company in 1989. Mr. Koshima has led teams of experts in ground improvements and ground reinforcement for all project phases, including design, construction management, performance management, supervision and consulting. He has been involved in 70 plus tunnel projects in Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Venezuela and Peru. His vast experience extends to dams, foundations, deep excavation supports, highways and slope stabilization.
He was president of the Brazilian Committee on Tunnels (CBT) from 2003 to 2006 and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Brazilian Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ABMS). Mr. Koshima is the co-editor of the book “Tunneling in Brazil” published by the CBT in 2006. He is co-author of more than 60 technical papers and Chapter 18 – Ground Reinforcement with Jet Grouting of the book “Foundations – Theory and Practice” published by the ABMS and the Brazilian Association on Special Foundation Engineering and Geotechnics (ABEF) in 1996. He received his undergraduate degree in civil engineering at the University of São Paulo (USP) in 1974 and obtained his master’s degree in soil engineering at the same university in 1983. He is a registered professional civil engineer in Brazil.

Dr. Wolfgang Orth is a Lehrbeauftragter (adjunct professor) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (former Karlsruhe University), Fakultät für Bauingenieur-, Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften.
Anerkannter Sachverständiger für Erd- und Grundbau nach Bauordnungsrecht (government certified inspection engineer for soil mechanics and foundation engineering.
His educational & professional highlights are:
1973 – 1978 : Student of Civil Engineering, Universität Karlsruhe, Special courses: Soil mechanics and foundation engineering ;
12/1978 : Graduation Diplomingenieur (Dipl.-Ing.) ;
3/1979 – 3/1980 : Postgraduate studies, Institut für Bodenmechanik und Felsmechanik der Universität Karlsruhe (TH) ;
4/1980 – 3/1986 : Research assistant, head of the ground freezing laboratory, Institut für Bodenmechanik und Grundbau der Universität Karlsruhe (TH) ;
1/1986 : Graduation Doktoringenieur (Dr.-Ing.), Thesis subject: Mechanical behaviour of frozen sand ;
4/1986- 3 1991 : Senior consultant in the Karlsruhe branch of Ingenieurbüro Wibel und Leinenkugel (Engineer consultants for soil mechanics and foundation engineering) ;
From 4/1991 – now : Executive consultant and owner, Dr.-Ing. Orth GmbH,  Ingenieurbüro für Bodenmechanik und Grundbau.

Paul C. Schmall, P.E. is Vice President and Chief Engineer for Moretrench, a nationally recognized company providing a comprehensive range of construction and specialized geotechnical services.  He has responsibility for the company’s complex groundwater control projects involving dewatering, grouting, ground freezing and artificial recharge for underground construction or tunneling. Mr. Schmall has engineered and managed numerous technically complex, groundwater-related and geotechnical projects in the United States and overseas.  He is experienced with vertical and horizontal ground freezing and he has been instrumental in the design and execution of a number of significant works. A particular area of expertise is the pre-treatment of ground to permit ground freezing in otherwise problematic ground conditions. Mr. Schmall is proactive in advancing the state of the practice by sharing his experience and expertise with the engineering community through frequent seminar and conference presentations, the publication of technical papers, instruction of several short courses, and by serving on industry committees.  He is a co-author of the third edition of Construction Dewatering and Groundwater Control, published in 2007, which includes a comprehensive coverage on ground freezing.