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With a total of 820 participants, 86 exhibiting companies, 76 papers presented at 22 technical sessions, five short courses, two special sessions, and three impressive keynote addresses, the Geosynthetics 2009 conference and trade show Feb. 25–27 in Salt Lake City was another hit in a series of geosynthetics conferences presented by the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI).
TenCate Geosynthetics was the premium sponsor for the event. Other sponsors were: Agru/America, Thrace-LINQ, International Lining Technology, and Firestone Specialty Products.
The keynoter on Feb. 25 was David Paul from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation who offered a veteran outlook in his presentation, “30 years of geosynthetics use—what may be in store for the next 30 years?” Revered geosynthetics pioneer, J.P. Giroud, took to the keynote podium the next day with his presentation, “Criteria for geotextile and granular filters.” On Feb. 27, the conference keynotes concluded with “The ground is moving—geotechnical and geosynthetic design challenges on the I-15 and Woodrow Wilson Bridge mega-projects” by John Volk from URS.
In addition to the educational offerings at the technical sessions, Geosynthetics 2009 was also home for GRI-22. The 22nd conference of the Geosynthetic Research Institute was titled “It’s All in the Details,” and was conducted Friday, Feb. 27.
A sampling of comments from the Geosynthetics 2009 attendee survey included:
“The use and variety of geosynthetics does not become apparent until you have been to this show.”
“This was one of the very best conferences I’ve ever attended. Dr. Giroud’s keynote lecture was the highlight and the three short courses I attended were also outstanding. First-class instructors.”
“The quality of the technical presentations was extremely high—well done!”
GeoFrontiers-2011 is the next IFAI-organized geosynthetics conference. Staged in partnership with the Geo-Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS), and GRI-24, the conference will be held in the first quarter of 2011 (dates and location announced soon).