CTO Corner
By Kim Morrison, Chief Technical Officer, ATC Williams
One of my aspirations as Chief Technical Officer has been to strengthen our culture of innovation by creating meaningful opportunities for our people to develop, test, and showcase new ideas. The Technical Innovation Contest 2026 is an initiative conceived to help unlock that potential.
The contest is an internal R&D program designed to elevate creative thinking, improve technical capability, and support ideas that can meaningfully advance ATC Williams. This year’s response and the calibre of submissions reaffirm just how much ingenuity exists across our business.
A Strong Field of Submissions
We received ten thoughtful, practical, and technically robust proposals from teams across multiple disciplines. Each one addressed a real challenge in our work, whether through enhanced testing methods, improved modelling tools, or smarter ways of handling data and field operations.
The Judging and Committee Leadership
As CTO, I led a judging panel of highly experienced technical leaders. We each brought technical rigour, fairness, and care to the assessment process.
Meet the other judges:
L-R: Kim Morrison, Dr Melissa Salt, Dr Sadegh Javadi, Dr Morteza Ghamgosar & Rowan Cossins.
- Dr Melissa Salt, Senior Principal Scientist
- Dr Sadegh Javadi, Slurry and Mechanical Engineering Technical Community Lead / Principal Engineer
- Dr Morteza Ghamgosar, Senior Associate
- Rowan Cossins, Waste and Resource Recovery Technical Community Lead / Senior Principal
Melissa Salt will serve as Chair of the Technical Innovation Committee for 2026, guiding funded teams through check-ins, progress reviews, and delivery support throughout the year.
Awarded Projects for 2026
These projects received internal R&D funding for 2026. Each proposal demonstrated strong innovation potential and a clear benefit to our technical practice.
Electronic MiniCPT for Soft Soil Testing
Nathan Podlich
Development of a lightweight, hand‑deployable electronic cone penetration testing device that enables efficient, continuous soil strength profiling in soft ground conditions.
Development of the Erosion Function Apparatus (EFA)
Behnam Pirouz & Hooman Baghban
Design and construction of a dedicated apparatus to more accurately characterise soil and tailings erosion behaviour for improved geotechnical and closure assessments.
Lab Services – Erosion Flume Testing
Joel Eadie & Philippe Garneau
Expansion of internal flume testing capability to improve our understanding of erosion mechanisms relevant to rehabilitation, closure design, and hydraulic performance.
Automated Optimisation Framework for GeoStudio Analyses Using Python Integration
Luis Bandeira Neto, Yuqi Tan & Nathan Podlich
Creation of a Python-enabled optimisation framework to streamline and standardise GeoStudio modelling workflows, reducing manual effort and improving consistency.
AI‑Assisted Tools for Water Resources
Enzo Aguilera Pettinelli
Development of AI-supported tooling to automate repetitive hydrological tasks, improve analysis consistency, and expand our capability—particularly in catchment delineation, climate data processing, and model output handling.
Advancing ATCW Critical State Testing – With a Focus on Transitional Tailings
Mahdi Naeini, Michael Munro & Laxmi Suwal
Enhancement of critical state laboratory testing methods to better characterise transitional tailings, improving our understanding of material behaviour and informing safer, more accurate design.
Honourable Mention: ATCW Field App (Offline + Online Sync)
Amit Hans
Design of a practical, device-friendly field application to streamline safety checks, site diaries, inspection forms, and other field-to-office workflows, especially in low‑connectivity environments.
Adding Value to ATCW
What excites me most is not just the diversity of these ideas but the potential value they can add across our projects, operations, and technical practice.
The Technical Innovation Contest represents a significant step in building a stronger internal innovation ecosystem. One that invests in our people, supports technical advancement, and reinforces ATC Williams’ commitment to excellence.
Over the year, we will feature spotlight profiles on each awarded team, sharing insights into their progress, early wins, and the value their work is creating.