The ISEE Board of Directors Election is now underway. Eligible voters, all members in good standing with the exception of student members, can cast votes until Nov. 30, 2019.
Eligible voters with an email on file should have received an email with step-by-step instructions for casting a vote online. Members who don’t have an email address on file will soon be receiving print ballots in the mail.
Newly elected officers and directors will take office at the 46th Annual Conference on Explosives & Blasting Technique to be held Jan. 26-29, 2020, in Denver, Colo.
Your opinion matters. Take part in this year’s election. For more information, contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
All professionals possess some measure of expertise. Not only is expertise useful, it’s usually necessary to do the job and generally viewed as a good thing.
But what if there’s an issue with expertise? Is expertise always a good thing?
During the 46th Annual Conference on Explosives & Blasting Technique keynote presentation, Forensic Structural Engineer Sean Brady, Ph.D., will discuss how expertise has limitations when applied outside normal areas of application, and how these limitations typically won’t be evident to the individual applying the expertise.
He will also talk about how it’s even likely that an individual will continue to apply their expertise in situations where evidence suggests the application of the expertise is inappropriate.
To explore these issues, Brady will examine the behavior of a group of U.S. firefighters fighting a 1949 wildfire in Mann Gulch. He will look at psychological studies that examine the concept of Priming and will discuss how baseball can help unravel why expertise sometimes lets us down.
Brady will speak at 8 a.m. Jan. 27, 2020, at the 46th Annual Conference on Explosives & Blasting Technique in Denver, Colo.
About Sean Brady
Sean Brady, Ph.D., is a forensic structural engineer who specializes in identifying the cause of defects and failures in the construction and engineering sectors.
He has acted as an independent expert in numerous proceedings involving a wide range of constructed facilities, including stadia, bridges, wharves, tall buildings, large basements, petroleum storage vessels and mining structures. He is a director of the Society of Construction Law Australia, and a member of the Singapore International Mediation Centre’s Panel of Experts.
Brady also has an interest in the causes of failure in general, particularly the role played by human factors, and he has recently completed a review into the causes of fatalities in the Queensland mining industry over the past 20 years.
Brady contributes to the specialty of forensics through journal papers and articles, as well as delivering conference keynote presentations. He is also a visiting lecturer at a number of universities.
Alfred Nobel has been named the 2020 Society of Explosives Engineers (SEE) Education Foundation Explosives Industry Hall of Fame inductee for his contributions to improving commercial explosives safety and controllability.
The Swedish businessman was an expert in many areas and is best known for his inventions. He was deeply committed to developing safer explosives after an explosives accident killed his younger brother.
Nobel invented dynamite, gelignite and ballistite. Each product was a safety improvement over existing explosives. In all, Nobel was awarded 355 patents throughout his lifetime including one for a detonator and another for a safer blasting cap he developed.
Nobel is just the third Explosives Industry Hall of Fame inductee. David E. Siskind, Ph.D., who has more than 25 years of blasting and vibration research, and John D. Loizeaux, a demolition expert who pioneered the use of the strategic and precise placement of explosives to cause buildings to fall where they stood, are the previous inductees.
Nobel’s induction was announced Oct. 1, 2019, by the International Society of Explosives Engineers (ISEE), a professional association established to advance the science and art of explosives engineering.
The Explosives Industry Hall of Fame was created to honor outstanding contributions in technology and innovation while impacting the commercial explosives industry.
Registration for the 46th Annual Conference on Explosives & Blasting Technique is now open. Join nearly 1,600 explosives industry professionals Jan. 26-29, 2020, at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colo., for the world's largest conference in the explosives industry.
This year's conference will feature technical sessions, workshops, poster presentations and more than 130 exhibitors showcasing the latest products and technology in the explosives industry.
Registration
To receive the special ISEE member discount rate, ISEE members will need their member ID number and membership type on-hand when registering. Attendees who aren't ISEE members, will select the non-member option during registration.
If you are unsure of your member ID or membership type, please contact Stefanie Bourbon, ISEE membership coordinator, at (440) 349-4400 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Hotel & Travel
For sleeping room reservations, call the Hyatt Regency Denver at (800) 233-1234. Please be sure to mention ISEE to receive the conference discount rate of $199.00 single/double. Do not delay booking your reservations because the hotel is expected to sell out early.
For online sleeping room reservations click here.
Please watch out for housing pirates and poachers. You must call or register online to receive the rate discount. Hotel and ISEE representatives will never solicit you for reservations.
Air Transportation
You will receive a discount off the lowest applicable published air fare when you make airline reservations with United Airlines. Click here to make your reservation, and offer code: ZH8G128178 when checking out.
If you have general conference questions email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We look forward to seeing you in Denver.
Nominate a coworker or colleague who has made an exceptional contribution to the fields of explosives or drilling for one of the International Society of Explosives Engineers most prestigious awards. There are three awards the ISEE is accepting nominations for:
Blaster’s Leadership Award: Presented to those who exemplify the blaster in the field and have given generously of time and talents in helping fellow blasters.
Driller’s Leadership Award: The award recognizes a drill operator, manager or drill expert who has given an extraordinary amount of time and knowledge to help fellow drillers and blasters with application, engineering or field work.
Distinguished Service Award: An award of merit given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of explosives engineering.
Click here to nominate a candidate online or to download a nomination form.