Q&A with Neil Bar
NAME
Neil Bar
TITLE
Geotechnical Engineer at Gecko Geotechnics
QUALIFICATIONS
BEng MEngSc MEng RPEQ
Everyone has a story to tell, and this month we asked the Geotechnical Engineer at Gecko Geotechnics, Neil Bar, to tell us about his role, his career and his thoughts about the future of our industry.
What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?
This morning, the beautiful, warm rays of the Caribbean sun at Oracabessa. We all have commitments, obligations, and challenges – starting every day early gives you a winning feeling to start off with.
Why did you choose your current career and how did you get to your current position?
I think it chose me. As a young, semi-motivated civil engineering student, I was aiming for a career designing and constructing skyscrapers in Dubai in the mid-2000s. With the financial crisis in 2008, plans and opportunities changed and I ended up in the Australian outback at Mount Isa mines. So instead of building upwards in the Arabian desert, I was helping dig holes in the Australian outback. Why did I stay in geotechnical engineering? Well, it’s not a job or a career, it’s an adventure (or is that the US Navy?). I have been blessed with the opportunity to work on all six inhabited continents and met fantastic people all around the world in the last 15 years.
What is your favourite part of your job?
The technical challenge – every project, every problem, every situation is different, and so is every solution: an engineered prototype. It allows you to be inquisitive and creative almost every day. Working across different countries and cultures, these challenges become even more fun to tackle.
What do you find most challenging about your role?
Not sure which is more challenging, finding good, hard people to work with, or balancing jetlag and meetings across several time zones.
What is one thing you would like to change about the mining and geotechnics/rock engineering industry?
Most geotechnical engineers under 30 (and some considerably older) have spent limited time working in operating mines. Some have never been responsible for ground failure risk management in their careers, and as a result often lack an understanding of engineering geological variability, operational capability, as well as the practicability of their own recommendations. This is a major industry gap since technical analysis requires input from ground conditions that need to be observed in the field or from drill core, not just a computer simulation.
What areas of the industry or trends do you think will become more important in coming years?
Digital twins for both surface and underground mines with a focus on geotechnical risk management will become common practice by 2030 using a combination of physical and remote sensing for ground characterisation, inspections and monitoring to provide semi-automated feedback to geotechnical models. From a safety side, we can achieve “goal zero” for ground failure risks; however, a lot more work needs to be done to change mindsets, and with the lack of experienced geotechnical engineers (globally), I think we will need to rely heavily on technology to achieve this goal.
If you could invite three people, alive or dead, to dinner – who would they be and why?
Only looking back at the post-WWII era, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Yuri Gagarin and Muammar Gadaffi. They all achieved great things and changed what we thought was impossible: from body building and movie-stardom to being a governor, being the first man in space well before we had calculators or personal computers, and from oil sales to farming in the Libyan (Sahara) desert. They’re also very contrasting people from different backgrounds and I think the conversation could be quite interesting, provocative and perhaps even intense.
What moment of your life would you want to relive – and would you change anything?
Not sure I would want to relive anything, but I would certainly take more photographs of work, travel and life to remember many precious moments and people better. After all, memory cards in digital cameras are not so expensive! I wouldn’t really want to change much, if anything at all. I only have a few material things, but maybe in hindsight, I wouldn’t have sold off my beautiful 2000 Subaru WRX a decade ago – it costs a mint today!
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
In my first para-professional job as a draftsman and junior civil engineer, my supervisor was an ex-boilermaker who often said many terrific ‘punchlines’ in jest that I reflect on and use to keep myself motivated and push on, even to this day. The G-rated ones included “want a teaspoon of cement?” and “harden up princess”. More seriously, when conflicted between a significant promotion opportunity internally in a major mining house and the chance to go work at a 900 m deep open pit mine in a developing country, my boss, an excellent geotechnical engineer, said to me: “if I were your age, I would go and take on the challenge, you can always come back here”. My sincere thanks to both gentlemen.
What advice would you give to someone considering geotechnical or rock engineering as a career?
If you want to drink lattes and work in an air-conditioned office wearing sharp business attire, find another calling – geotechnical engineering might not be for you. If you choose a career in geotechnical engineering, my only advice is that you spend as much time in the field as you can – see how the ground behaves; see many different ground and environmental conditions. After 15 years, I still find myself learning quite literally every time I go to a new project site or mining operation. Don’t be afraid to try new things – modern rock mechanics only started in the ‘70s (after we put man on the moon) and it is still developing. And most of all, enjoy the wild ride!