Claude Berenguier, Executive Director of the ITACET Foundation, sat on the panel of examiners who listened to the students of the post-graduate Master's in Tunnelling and Tunnel Boring Machines defend their theses at the Politecnico di Torino on 6th December 2016. The session was opened by the Director of Master's, Mr Carlo Rafaele. Other members of the panel were Mr Daniele Peila, Course Director for this Master's, Mrs Monica Barbero, Director of Education  and Mr Danile Martinelli.

15 students presented their theses:

• “Mechanized and conventional tunnelling: Pros and cons. The case of the Catania metro Project” (A. ALKHARASHI).
• “Two-component backfill grout system in the Follo Line project case study” (A.M. ALVAREZ ORTIZ).
• “Implementation methodology for the investigation and location of karstic voids and their tackling in an urban environment” (I. ANAGNOSTOPOULOS).
• “Common problems and resolutions in tunnelling and underground projects. The Forrestfield airport link case study in Australia” (A. ANDERS).
• “TBM Performance: Al –hayer wastewater conveyor” (A.N. BUD)
• “Drill and blast excavation of main tunnels and raise boring of a shaft in a talc mine” (D. CORAGLIOTTO).
• “Structural aspects regarding TBM assembly and annexed equipment” (C.F. FAVERIO).
• “Tube-à-manchette (TAM) grouting: Turin Metro line 1, 3^rd section Lingotto-Bengasi (L.GUERINO).
• “Analysis of drill-blast cycle times for the USBRL tunnel in the Himalayan mountains” (N. KUMAR).
• “Geognostic Maddalena Tunnel: TBM performance analysis in hard rock” (L. GUERINO).
• “Geotechnical considerations in tunnel design for the renewal of a hydroelectric power plant” (G.H. RACIOPPI).
• “Risk management analysis for soft ground TBM type selection” (C.F. FAVIERO).
• “TBM performance analysis in the Xe-Pian Xe-namnoy project”(S. SON).
• "The assembly of two Herrenknecht EPB TBMs on the Novi Ligure job site for the Terzo Valico project” (G. STEFANO).
• “Building information modeling applied to underground structure design” (R. WINDERHOLLER).

Amongst these students was Rodrigo Winderholler, an Argentine student who received a scholarship from the ITACET Foundation. Rodrigo was congratulated by the examiners for his work on BIM (Building Information Modelling Applied to Underground Structure Design).

The examiners also congratulated Seungmo Son, a South Korean student, for his work on TBM performance analysis in the Xe-Oian X e-Namoy project (Laos) and Abdulrahman Alkharashi, a Saudi Arabian student, for his work on the Cairo Subway. In 2014, Abdulrahman took part in the training session organized by the ITACET Foundation in Riyadh on "Utility Tunnels", which sparked his interest in the post-graduate master's on offer in Turin.

Below left: Course director Mr Daniele Peila with student Rodrigo Winderholler. Below centre: Daniele Peila listens to the students defend their theses. Below right: The students proudly present their degrees.