Avtar K Raina is Chief Scientist at CSIR-CIMFR and Professor at AcSIR. He has a Ph.D. in Mining Engg. (IIT-ISM) and a Ph.D. in Earth Sciences. He is a Gold Medalist, National Mineral Awardee (Mining Technology), MoM-GoI. His research areas include environmental impacts of blasting in surface mines, railways, hydropower projects, and metros; information technology in mining and packages for mining— created Fragalyst 4.X, 6.0; engineering geology—created CMRI_Rock (now free) software for rock classification; rock excavation engineering—Major R&D Project on TBM/Roadheader by CPRI; and ReMi, MASW, ANN, RSA, and general and advanced statistical techniques for excavation engineering