Jamal Rostami

Dr. Jamal Rostami is the Timothy J. Haddon / Alacer Gold Endowed Chair and Director of the Excavation Engineering and Earth Mechanics Institute (EMI) at the Colorado School of Mines. He holds a BSc from the University of Tehran (Iran), and MSc/PhD from CSM. With 27 years of experience in mining, tunneling, and underground construction, he has served as faculty at University of Tehran (1988-2002), consultant (2002-2007), and Centennial Chair at Penn State (2007-2016). He is a registered Professional Engineer in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

His research focuses on advancing tunneling technologies, TBM performance optimization, rock mechanics, and lunar excavation. Key projects include the Kerman Water Conveyance Tunnel and studies on lunar regolith geotechnics. He has published 80+ peer-reviewed articles, 150+ conference papers, and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Tunneling and Underground Space Technology. Leadership roles include ITA Executive Committee member, SME Research Committee Chair, and board roles with IAAP and Professors Without Borders.

His work integrates machine learning for TBM performance prediction, geotechnical risk assessment, and innovative tunneling methods. Current initiatives include the 4th International Conference on TBM in Difficult Ground (TBM-DiG) and development of the CSM2020 Discrete Event Simulation model for tunneling projects.