Professor David Williams initiated and directs the industry-funded Geotechnical Engineering Centre at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. He has over 40 years of teaching, research and consulting experience, and is internationally recognised for his expertise and experience in mine waste management and mine closure. He is particularly recognised for his expertise in tailings, and the design, construction, operation, closure and rehabilitation of tailings dams and waste rock dumps, including the design of covers. He authored in 2009 and 2016 the Tailings Management Handbook, as part of the Commonwealth Leading Practice Sustainable Development Program for the Mining Industry, and is on the Working Party for the Australian National Committee for Large Dams Guidelines on Tailings Dams – Planning, Design, Construction, Operation and Closure, published in 2012, with an Addendum in 2019, and currently under revision.
