Dr. Zhao Jun from Northeastern University won the ISRM Rocha Medal

Recently, the winner list of the ISRM Rocha Medal 2023 was announced. Dr Zhao Jun from the Ins, Postdoctoral fellow from the Institute of Deep Engineering and Intelligent Technology (Northeastern University) won the Rocha Medal 2023. This is the first time that a Chinese scholar in rock mechanics cultivated in China has won this award again during the past 15 years. The title of Dr. Zhao Jun's PhD dissertation is Research on the aging fracture mechanism and long-term stability of hard rock in deep tunnels. Zhao Jun, received his PhD degree from Northeastern University in May 2021. His supervisor is Professor Feng Xiating, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. After graduation, he started to work as a postdoctoral fellow at Northeastern University, mainly conducting research on aging disaster prediction and prevention and control technologies for deep hard rock engineering. In 2021, he was enrolled into the Postdoctoral Innovative Talents Support Program, and in 2022, he was selected as a leading talent in Shenyang. Dr. Zhao has received many awards, including the CSRME Grand Prize for Scientific and Technological Invention (ranking 2), the CSRME Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award (2021), and the First Prize of the Teaching Achievement Award for General Higher Education (Undergraduate) in Liaoning Province. He has participated in 7 projects, including the Postdoctoral Innovative Talents Support Program, National Key R&D Program Sub-project, National Natural Science Youth Fund, National Key Laboratory Open Fund, and China Postdoctoral Mianshang Fund. He has published 14 SCI-indexed papers, engaged in the compilation of 1 group standard, has 2 international invention patents, more than 10 national invention patents, and completed 1 scientific and technological achievement transformation.

Additional Information:
The Rocha Medal has been awarded annually by the ISRM, since 1982, to honour the memory of ISRM Past President Manuel Rocha while stimulating young researchers. The Rocha Medal is the highest award given by the ISRM to the authors of an outstanding doctoral thesis in rock mechanics or rock engineering. Only one winner will be selected every year in the world.

Submitted by: Zhao Jun