Dear Colleagues of the Rock Mechanics Community :
It is my privilege to be here thanks to the kind invitation from the Organizing Committee of this First North American Rock Mechanics Symposium; I specially want to thank Dr. Priscilla P. Nelson for her communications about the theme of my talk, giving me the opportunity to summarize my personal vision of Rock Mechanics, based on the work I have done during the last 22 years.
I also want to congratulate our colleagues of the U.S.A., the Canadian, the Mexican and the International bodies involved in the Rock Mechanics field who have made a very big effort in organizing this First NARM Symposium during the first year of applicability of the NAFTA and overpassing with much success the scope and covering of the two previous Binational symposia on Rock Mechanics, the first one held in Mexico City in 1983 and the other one in the U.S.A. in 1986.
