The recognised value EPC-UK offers its customers is achieved because of our team’s specialist and scientific knowledge, with research and development pinpointed as proven areas in which we excel. 

As a company, we have built upon the legacy and mentorship qualities of EPC-UK’s industry expert, Dr. Rob Farnfield, through the collaborative exploratory work, scientific papers and colleague support of fellow employees Dr. Bonny Victor, Dr. Liam Bermingham and Dr. Geoff Adderley. They have, in recent years, continued to strengthen EPC-UK’s service, safety standards, technological developments, and industry leading reputation.    

An exceptional team

Through a series of articles, featuring our ‘Blast Doctors’ in turn, we are highlighting both the individual and group capabilities harnessed within our company, as well as our SPIRIT value commitment to supporting the next generation’s journey to the evolving and increasingly sustainable drilling & blasting field. 

Bonny’s specialism lies in product development and optimisation, Geoff’s is in developing blasting technology and software, and Liam’s effectively advances digitalized quarrying environments. 

EPC-UK’s SPIRIT values: Safety, Passion, Integrity, Respect, Innovation and Teamwork.

Technological expert, Dr. Geoff Adderley

Geoff’s expertise supports two area specialisms: new product and technology testing and the development of hardware and software solutions to capture, distribute, collate and analyse blasting related data.

His professional involvement in testing new products and technologies with relation to detonation systems and blast design software has been substantial and effective. In addition, his desire to continually advance his own skills and knowledge is seeing him complete coding and app development courses to support the future progression of our computerised systems.

The science behind the solution

Critically though, it is Geoff’s work in developing data capturing hardware and software solutions for blast performance data that is currently making industry waves. 

His knowledge and abilities are supporting EPC-UK and EPC Metrics’ current development and implementation of VERTEX©, our technologically advanced system that’s now being used in and out of the field. VERTEX combines platforms EXPERTIR©, EXPERTAB™ and EXPLORE™, equipping operators and engineers with the digital tools to upload, analyse and store information to optimise blast performance from any location.

“My planning, testing and implementation work on VERTEX is allowing EPC-UK and EPC Metrics to make greater use of extremely valuable data which previously would have been gathering dust on shelves in paper form,” Geoff says. “Its use is creating increased transparency within the blasting process and allowing a more tailored outcome.”

Supported SPIRIT 

“Our company SPIRIT values of PASSION and INNOVATION are both central to my work and instinctive interest in research and development of new technologies. So too are my collaborative relationships, not only with software developers here and internationally with EPC Groupe, but also with Bonny, Liam and Rob. We work closely together and meet regularly to discuss new areas we’d like to target for research and development and potential joint trials. I work with Liam daily, as I develop systems that tie in with the site-specific improvement projects he is working on. Our academic and professional backgrounds are similar, so we draw on one another ‘in a sounding board capacity’ regarding general blast design and technology rollouts. My professional relationship with Bonny is also close, as we work together to devise techniques to capture data on explosive performance in our systems.”

Future projects

“Moving forwards, my work supported by the team will see our drive to enable data solutions increase further, as we use Microsoft® PowerBI® — an interactive data visualisation software product — to bring data together from various disparate systems, from blast designs to our fleet of bulk emulsion trucks.

Maintaining the mentorship

For Geoff, working alongside Bonny and Liam day-to-day, as well as with software specialists, is key to his achievements. So too is Rob’s role as a mentor. Geoff, whose published papers are widely regarded, began working with Rob in 2006. At this time, Geoff was producing his PhD, ‘The Effect of Tunnel Blast Design on Vibration’, at Camborne School of Mines. They collaborated on multiple research projects and papers, from special effects to drones, and have written and delivered a series of training courses over the course of Geoff’s career. “Rob has mentored me for years now, particularly during my time as a Senior Explosives Engineer at EPC-UK when he was my direct senior. He is a leading field authority and a fantastic sounding board and tutor.  Even now, having worked in the sector for more than 15 years, I will ask Rob for his input on various projects, knowing I can rely on his capacity for concept understanding and his unsurpassed level of experience and knowledge.

“Having been influenced by Rob’s example, Liam, Bonny and I can each see the imperative value in encouraging and assisting the next generation of industry specialists. Mentoring others has now become part of our own roles, and together we’ll be working on the new EPC-UK blast diploma in coming months, as well as updated training material for our shotfiring and explosive supervisor courses, ensuring our work continues to deliver in a full circle capacity.”

To find out more about VERTEX or EPC Metrics’ capabilities contact Commercial Manager, Ryan.Ward@epc-groupe.co.uk or for details on our training and development courses visit click here