Roger Holmberg was born in Umeå, Sweden, in 1948. He graduated from Umeå University in 1972 and started as a research engineer at Nitro Nobel, Alfred Nobel’s first company. He then moved to the Swedish Detonic Research Foundation in 1974, first as a research engineer but was subsequently promoted to R&D Director and Vice President. He held other important positions during his many years in the company. He continued as R&D Manager for Dyno Nobel’s Initiation System, DNIS, after Dyno Nobel bought Nitro Nobel in 1995. During his time at Nitro Nobel he was a key member of the research team who invented the Nonel system for non-electric initiation. Dyno Nobel was acquired by Orica in 2006 and Roger continued as Global Conventional IS Technology Manager for a further 2 years until 2008.

Roger has been a loyal member of EFEE for over 25 years and represented Sweden in The Swedish Rock blasting committee, where he was also the president for 10 years during 1997-2007. In EFEE he served as a member of the board for 5 years between 2003-2008 and as President during 2006-2008 and as General Secretary for 15 years 2008-2023. Roger has been an essential part of EFEE administration for 20 years.

Roger has also been a loyal member of ISEE, the International Society of Explosive Engineers, for many years and he contributed lectures and submissions to the organization’s development. Roger was recently awarded for Distinguished Service by ISEE in 2022.

Roger has authored, co-authored and edited many books, publications and lectures that have been instrumental to the development of the industry. Most famously he co-authored ‘Rock Blasting and Explosives Engineering’ and has headed the technical committee, editing eight specialist EFEE World Conference proceedings. Roger has contributed his specialist knowledge to the development of the explosives industry.