The Bologna MRPM conferences are occasions on which the community comes together from all around the world to interact and grow. The scene was different in the late 1980s, even though there were clear signs that the time was ripe for a direct exchange of ideas and results among the few groups who were, independently, working on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) for Porous Media. In this scientific context, the first MRPM meeting was organized in 1990 at the University of Bologna, driven by the intuition of Giulio Cesare Borgia and his wife, Paola Fantazzini.

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Giulio Cesare and Paola attended physics courses together at the University of Bologna. After earning their degrees in physics, their academic careers took different paths. He became a Professor of Petroleum Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, while she pursued research in Applied Physics at the Physics Department, focusing on the NMR relaxation properties of biological tissues.

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In the mid-1980s, Giulio Cesare and Paola recognized that both petroleum reservoirs and biological materials could be classified as porous media, and that their respective expertise could be usefully combined to study porous media in all contexts by NMR. Giulio Cesare was already familiar with an article by Robert (Bob) James Sidford Brown and Irving Fatt, published in the year 1956, which explored the fractional wettability of sand using NMR [1]. Giulio Cesare and Paola then discovered additional work on oil field and porous media applications of NMR, primarily by Bob [2,3,4] and other authors [5,6,7]. This led them to initiate a research project on Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media, which soon became a central focus of their scientific activity [8]. Around that time, a milestone study published by Schlumberger-Doll Research [9] further convinced them that they were moving in the right direction.

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In 1988, the University of Bologna launched a series of events to commemorate the ninth centenary of its foundation, and the MRPM group aspired to organize an international meeting, although the event was not held until 1990. Bob was invited to attend the conference, and a fruitful, long-lasting collaboration with him on MRPM studies was established.

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The success of the first MRPM meeting led to the development of a distinguished series of Biennial International Conferences. The 7th edition, held in Palaiseau (France) in 2004, was the first without Giulio Cesare Borgia, who passed away from a sudden illness just days after the 2002 edition in Ulm. By 2004, it was clear that the MRPM community had grown significantly over time. To ensure the continuity of the conference series, a formal organizational structure was established, and the community applied to join Groupement Ampère as the Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media Division.

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In recognition of the fact that the success of the MRPM conferences was largely due to the University of Bologna, it was decided that the conference would henceforth be formally designated as the Bologna Conference. Additionally, a prize for young researchers was established: the Giulio Cesare Borgia Award, with the following dedication: In memory of the contribution made by Giulio Cesare Borgia to the development of magnetic resonance in porous media, and to acknowledge the particular attention he always paid to the enthusiasm, passion, and courage of young people who undertook the difficult and adventurous path of scientific investigation in this fascinating area of research.

 

Paola Fantazzini never stopped working on NMR relaxation data acquisition and interpreting, both in artificial and natural porous media, and continued to promote and take care of the Bologna MRPM Conference series as a member of the Scientific Committee and as co-editor of the Proceedings, published up to the 2014 edition held in Wellington, NZ.

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By Prof. Paola Fantazzini

 

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References

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[1] R.J.S. Brown, I. Fatt, Measurements of fractional wettability of oilfield rocks by the nuclear magnetic relaxation method, Trans. AIME 207: 262-264, 1956. Paper presented at the Fall Meeting of the Petroleum Branch of AIME, Los Angeles, California, October 1956. Paper Number: SPE-743-https://doi.org/10.2118/743-G

[2] R.J.S. Brown; Nuclear Magnetic Logging at the Coyote Institute, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 14 (7/8) 811-817, 1996.

[3] R.J.S. Brown; The earth’s field NML development at Chewron, Concepts Magn Reson 13, 344-366, 2001.

[4] P. Hull, J.E. Coolidge; Field Examples of Nuclear Magnetism Logging, J. Petr. Tech, Aug. 14-22, 1960.

[5] R.J.S. Brown; Measurements of Nuclear Spin Relaxation of Fluids in Bulk for Large Surface-to-Volume Ratios, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc., Series II, 1, 216, 1956.

[6] D.O. Seevers; A Nuclear Magnetic Method for Determining the Permeability of Sandstones, Trans. SPWLA, 14 p. 1966.

[7] A. Timur; An Investigation of Permeability, Porosity, and Residual Water Saturation Reelationships, Trans. SPWLA, 18 p. 1968.

[8] P. Fantazzini; Magnetic resonance for fluids in porous media at the University of Bologna, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 23 (2) 125-133, 2005.

[9] W.E. Kenyon, P.I. Day, C. Straley, J.F. Willemsen; A three-part study of NMR longitudinal relaxation properties of water- saturated sandstones, Soc. Petr. Eng. J. Form. Eval. 3, 622-636-1988.

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List of Giulio Cesare Borgia Prize Winners

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MRPM16 (2024, Tromsø, Norway), Teddy Cai

MRPM15 (2022, Hangzhou, China), Fangrong Zong

MRPM14 (2018, Florida, USA), Stefan A. Herter

MRPM13 (2016, Bologna, IT), Dan Benjamini

MRPM12 (2014, Wellington, NZ), Jeffrey L. Paulsen

MRPM11 (2012, Guildford, UK), Jonathan Mitchell

MRPM10 (2010, Leipzig, DE), Denis Grebenkov

MRPM9 (2008, Cambridge, USA), Kate E. Washburn

MRPM8 (2006, Bologna, IT), Rustem Valiullin

MRPM7 (2004, Palaiseau, FR), Dimitris Sakellariou

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List of Published MRPM Conferences Proceedings

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G. C. Borgia, R. J. S. Brown, P. Fantazzini, J. Gore, P. Mansfield, B. Maraviglia, E. Mesini, L. Sgubini, Editors, PROCEEDINGS of the First International Meeting on Recent Advances in NMR Applications to Porous Media, Bologna 14-16 Nov. 1990, Magn. Res. Imaging, 9(5): 639-888 (1991).

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G. C. Borgia, P. Fantazzini, J. Gore, R. M. Smith, J.H. Strange, Editors, PROCEEDINGS ofthe Second International Meeting on Recent Advances in MR Applications to Porous Media, Canterbury 14-16 April 1993, Magn. Res. Imaging, 12(2): 161-378 (1994).

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G.C. Borgia, P. Fantazzini, J. Gore, M. R. Halse, J.H. Strange, Editors, PROCEEDINGS of the Third International Meeting on Recent Advances in MR Applications to Porous Media, Louvain-la-Neuve, 3-6 Sept. 1995, Magn. Res. Imaging, 14(7/8): 697-1006 (1996).

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G. C. Borgia, P. Fantazzini, J. Gore, J.H. Strange, Editors, PROCEEDINGS of the Fourth International Meeting on Recent Advances in MR Applications to Porous Media, Trondheim, 31 Aug.-3 Sept. 1997, Magn. Res. Imaging, 16(5/6): 449-714 (1998).

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G. C. Borgia, P. Fantazzini, J. Gore, J.H. Strange, Editors, PROCEEDINGS of the Fifth International Meeting on Recent Advances in MR Applications to Porous Media, Bologna, 9-11 Oct. 2000, Magn. Res. Imaging, 19(3/4)(2001).

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G. C. Borgia, P. Fantazzini, J. Gore, M. Holz, J.H. Strange, Editors, PROCEEDINGS of the Sixth International Meeting on Recent Advances in MR Applications to Porous Media, Ulm, 2-12 Sept. 2002, Magn. Res. Imaging 21: (3/4) (2003). 

 

P. Fantazzini, J.Gore, J-P. Korb, Editors, PROCEEDINGS of the Seventh International Conference on Recent Advances in MR Applications to Porous Media, Palaiseau-Paris, 4-8 July 2004, Magn. Res. Imaging 23: (2) (2005).

 

P. Fantazzini, J.Gore, Editors, PROCEEDINGS of the Eighth International Bologna Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media, Bologna, 10-14 September 2006, Magn. Res. Imaging: 25 (4) (2007). 439-592.

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M. Huerlimann, Y-Q. Song, P. Fantazzini, V. Bortolotti, Editors, PROCEEDINGS of the Ninth International Bologna Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media, 13-17 July 2008, Cambridge, USA, Conference Proceedings Series American Institute of Physics, n. 1081, 2008.

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P. Fantazzini, P. Galvosas, Yi-Qiao Song, M.D. Hürlimann, J.Kärger, Special Issue “Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media”, A selection of contributions presented as posters at the 9th International Bologna Conference, Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media (MRPM 9), July 2008, Cambridge MA, USA, Diffusion Fundamentals, Vol.10 (2009).

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P. Fantazzini, V. Bortolotti, P. Galvosas, J. Kaerger, Editors Special Issue “Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media”: A selection of contributions presented as posters at the 10th International Bologna Conference Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media (MRPM 10), September 2010, Leipzig, Germany, Diffusion Fundamentals, Vol. 14 (2010).

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P. Fantazzini, V. Bortolotti, J. Kärger, P. Galvosas, Editors, PROCEEDINGS of the Tenth International Bologna Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media, 12 – 17 September 2010, Leipzig Germany, Conference Proceedings Series American Institute of Physics, n. 1330, 2011.

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P.J. McDonald, S. Stapf, P. Fantazzini, V.Bortolotti, J. Mitchell, Special Issue “Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media”, A selection of papers presented at the 11th International Bologna Conference, Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media (MRPM 11), September 2012, Surrey, UK, Diffusion Fundamentals, Vol.18 (2013).P.J. McDonald, S. Stapf, P. Fantazzini, V. Bortolotti, J. Mitchell, EDITORS, Proceedings of the 11th International Bologna Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media (MRPM11), Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 178: 1-125 (2013).

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P. Galvosas, C. Arns, V. Bortolotti, P. Fantazzini, EDITORS, Proceedings of the 12th International Bologna Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media (MRPM12). Editorial. Microporous Mesoporous Materials 205, 1-xx (2015).