Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Mining and Geotechnical Engineering

Dr. Hoang Nguyen is a highly accomplished lecturer and researcher at the Hanoi University of Mining and Geology in Vietnam. In 2020, he obtained his PhD degree from the Surface Mining Department at the Mining Faculty of the same institution. Dr. Nguyen's academic journey has taken him to various research institutions around the world, including Pukyong National University in Busan, Korea, and the Institute of Research and Development at Duy Tan University in Da Nang, Vietnam, as a visiting researcher.

With an extensive publication record, Dr. Hoang Nguyen has authored two books and over 100 papers that are indexed in renowned databases such as Web of Sciences (SCI, SCIE, SSCI). Additionally, he serves as an editor for several esteemed journals. His research interests encompass a wide range of cutting-edge fields, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, optimization algorithms, metaheuristic algorithms, advanced analytics, and their applications in engineering.

Dr. Hoang Nguyen possesses deep expertise in mining, blasting, geotechnical engineering, environment, natural hazards, and natural resources research. His contributions to the field have earned him recognition, such as the Young Talent Award in Science and Technology of Hanoi University of Mining and Geology in 2019. Furthermore, he has been acknowledged as one of the World's Top 2% Scientists in both 2021 and 2022, further highlighting his exceptional achievements in the scientific community.

Prof. Xuan-Nam Bui received the B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees in mining engineering from Hanoi University of Mining and Geology (HUMG), Vietnam, in 1996 and 2001, and the Dr.-Ing. degree in mining engineering from the Technische Universitaet Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany, in 2005. From 1996 to 2008, he was a Lecturer at HUMG. He was appointed an Associate Professor and Professor at the Surface Mining Department, HUMG, in 2009 and 2018. Since 2024, he is a Visiting Professor at Vietnam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources. He is the author and co-author of 26 books, over 280 papers in international and national journals, and conference proceedings. His research interests include the advanced mining engineering, friendly environmental and smart mining, and the uses of AI in predicting impacts of mining and engineering activities on the environment for sustainable development. Prof. Xuan-Nam Bui was an Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Mining and Earth Sciences of HUMG. He is also a member of the Society of Mining Professors, Vietnam Minning Science and Technology Association, Vietnam Blasting Engineering Association and some editorial boards of reputed international and national journals.

Prof. Erkan Topal is a mining engineer with a Master of Science Degree (MSc) in Mineral Economics, MSc and PhD. Degree in Mining Engineering from Colorado School of Mines in U.S. His main research interests are in mine planning and optimization, mineral and energy economics. He is a world leading expert in the field of mine planning and optimization. Some of his internationally recognized research includes underground mine scheduling with stope boundary optimization, mine waste dump design with pit optimization, Application of the Real Options in Engineering Design and Decision Making He is in the editorial board of five scientific journals in the area of mining including editor-in-chief role for the International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment Journal and has published well over 100 papers in reputed journals and refereed conference proceedings. Assoc. Prof. Jian Zhou received the Ph.D. degree from the School of Resources and Safety Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, China, in 2015. From 2013 to 2014, he was a Visitor scholar with the McGill University, Montreal, Canada. His current research interests in prediction and control of mining and geotechnical engineering hazards using machine learning methods, including rockburst in deep hardrock mining and high-stress conditions, pillar and stope stability analysis, blast vibration, slope stability analysis. He is currently an Associate Professor with the School of Resource and Safety Engineering, Central South University. He is a member of ISRM and invited to serve as the Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports, International Journal of Mining Science and Technology, Advances in Civil Engineering, Applied Sciences, Metaheuristic Computing and Applications. He has published more than 100 papers in well-established ISI and Scopus journals, national and international conferences. His citation and H-index are 3500 and 33, respectively.

Prof. Yosoon Choi received a BS degree at the School of Civil, Urban and Geosystem Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea, in 2004. He received a PhD degree at the Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Seoul National University, in 2009. He was a Post-Doc fellow at the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, USA.

He is a Professor at the Department of Energy Resources Engineering at Pukyong National University, Korea. He is also leading the Geo-ICT Laboratory at Pukyong National University since 2011. He has been working in the area of Smart Mining, Renewables in Mining, AICBM (AI, IoT, Cloud, Big Data, Mobile) Convergence, Energy Resources Engineering, Mining Engineering, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), 3D Geo-modeling, Operations Research, Solar Energy Engineering.

Prof. Wengang ZHANG is currently full professor in School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, China. His research interests focus on impact assessment on the built environment induced by underground construction, as well as big data and machine learning in geotechnics and geoengineering. He published more than 90 ISI papers in Web of Sciences and 27 conference papers. He is now the member of the ISSMGE TC304 (Reliability), TC309 (Machine Learning), and TC219 (System Performance of Geotechnical Structures), SRMEG, ISRM, IAEG, CISMGE . Dr Zhang has been selected as the World's Top 2% Scientists 2020.