Dr Kym Morton is an international expert on mine dewatering design with over 40 years’ experience on over 300 mines. Her qualifications include BSc Hons Kings College, London, MSc Hydrogeology University College London, PhD in mining hydrology Imperial College London and an MBA in innovation from Imperial College London. She is a  Chartered Geologist (UK) , Fellow of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Fellow of the Geological Society (UK), Founder member of the groundwater division of the South African Geological Society and a member of MENSA. Dr Morton is well known for her pragmatic approach to mine dewatering design and implementation which combines international hands-on experience with impeccable qualifications.

Francois a Technical Engineer for Project Dewatering Limited (PDL). PDL is a specialised dewatering contractor based in the UK and part of the Hoelscher International Group. Francois is also  enrolled as a master’s student at NWU Potchefstroom in South Africa. His duty as a Technical Engineer involves all aspects related to dewatering, from documenting tenders and client communications to dewatering designs and quotation preparations. Francois role as Graduate Advisory Council Member would be to provide input from a recently graduated Geohydrologist point of view. He would also be linking TDI more closely with students and his other peers to ensure TDI servers the specialist of the future as well.

Andres’s work history starts back 21 years ago when, as a freshly graduated civil engineer, he joined a geotechnical consultancy firm in Colombia. It was one of the most amazing experiences, he had the opportunity to be mentored by experienced ground engineering professionals to solve problems arising from complex geotechnical conditions in a mountainous and seismically active country. He travelled all around the country to participate in projects covering various challenges, from earth dams geotechnical and seismic risk assessment to seismic microzonation and site-specific seismic response studies. From the experience gained during his initial professional years he reaffirmed his interest in ground engineering. In 2007, he moved to Europe to pursue Master studies in Geotechnical and Earthquake Engineering and to gain professional experience working for design consultancy firms and contractors in the management, design, procurement, and construction of geotechnical and tunnelling large-scale underground projects. In 2012, he relocated to the Middle East  to be part of the construction of the Doha Metro Underground Project, from tender design to handing over. Most recently in 2019, he joined Stantec as the Middle East Regional Technical Lead for Ground Engineering, where he have participated in various projects covering the design and construction supervision of underground pumping stations, tunnels, earthworks, and outfalls.

Niel Kriel, Operations Hydrogeologist at Rio Tinto, Perth, Western Australia, Australia. Hydrogeologist with a keen interest in dewatering and associated groundwater management.
Niel has been fortunate enough to have worked in dewatering across multiple industries in a short amount of time. He was exposed to groundwater and to a larger extent mine dewatering when he started off as a geology vacation student in the Copper Belt of Zambia. After finishing his undergrad in geology, he went on to complete a post-graduate honours and masters in hydrogeology whilst working part-time conducting hydro and geophysical investigations and consulting. A year into his master’s he found himself moving to Qatar where he worked as a dewatering design engineer for a couple of years, during this early stage of his career where he was exposed to a lot of dewatering related work with the rapid expansion of Qatar and assisting our European branches with dewatering design. After Qatar, Niel and his wife moved to Australia where he worked as a consulting hydrogeologist supporting our dewatering consulting network in Perth and surrounds. Fast forward to the present day where he currently sits as the operations hydrogeologist responsible for in-pit dewatering and groundwater management in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia. Across his journey he has been exposed to several different dewatering strategies within different aquifer systems, each with its own set of challenges whether its drawdown related or regulatory restricted.