For geomaterials and, more broadly, granular materials, system properties and processes at the grain scale have a profound impact on behaviour at the large (engineering) scales.

 

Accordingly, the objective of this workshop is twofold:

 

• to share and to discuss the state-of-the art in measurements, from the grain scale to the “bulk” system-wide scale, and the types of data associated with them;

 

• to identify ways to organise this rapidly developing knowledge infrastructure to enable the latest advances in data analytics to be brought to bear on these data assets and, ultimately, deliver useful information on key relationships between structure, dynamics and function of geomaterials across scales.

 

Knowledge of data resources on geomaterial/granular systems and capabilities in data analytics are essential in advancing fundamental research and practical solutions for some of the “big challenges” confronting Australia and beyond, including: energy-resource extraction and processing, rational design for sustainable built environments, and tools for early prediction and risk mitigation of failure for large-scale applications (e.g., landslides).