More than 1,300 delegates will attend the 20th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE 2022) this week, with over half of delegates attending the meeting in person at the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney).

ICSMGE 2022 is the first international meeting being held in Sydney with significant in-person attendance numbers since the start of the global pandemic. More than 70 countries will be represented in total, with the largest delegations from South Korea and the United States.

“It is wonderful that the leading geotechnical engineers in the world have come together to share new important research and what is equally encouraging from a conference organiser’s perspective is that the majority are choosing to do so in-person,” ICMS Australasia managing director, Emma Bowyer, said.

“The ICC Sydney is the perfect backdrop for international delegates to experience our city and we are expecting many more events of this nature over the coming years.”

Conference Chair and former Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Engineering at the University of Newcastle, Emeritus Professor John Carter, said the conference was originally planned for Sydney in late 2021 but was delayed to ensure greater opportunity for in-person attendance.

“After six attempts to secure the conference for Sydney and a global pandemic in between, we’ve shown that Australians are nothing if not persistent,” Carter said.

“A major conference legacy that ICSMGE 2022 can be proud of is that over 25 percent of our attendees are young professionals and geotechnical engineers. The learning and networking opportunities we are providing are likely to be as profound in many years to come as they are now.

“We are very grateful to our international society for entrusting us with the organisation of this important quadrennial conference.”

ICSMGE 2022 is being hosted by the Australian Geomechanics Society and managed by ICMS Australasia, with support from BESydney and Business Events Australia.