TEXTILES.ORG
A busy Geotechnical Frontiers conference for IGS–NA
The International Geosynthetics Society–North American (IGS–NA) Chapter annual meeting was held on March 14, 2017, at Geotechnical Frontiers in Orlando, Fla. Among the key items discussed at the meeting were the appointment of the 2017–2019 board of directors, winners of the IGS–NA photo contest, and the 2017 Educate the Educators program.
Board of Director elections
Per the IGS–NA bylaws, board of director elections were held in January 2017. The IGS–North American Chapter board of directors for 2017–2019 are:
- Richard Brachman, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, president
- John McCartney, University of California, San Diego, president-elect
- Ranjiv Gupta, Geosyntec Consultants, Phoenix, Ariz., treasurer
- Stan Boyle, Shannon & Wilson, Seattle, Wash., vice president
- John Allen, CETCO Environmental Products, Hoffman Estates, Ill., vice president
- Bruno Herlin, Terrafix Geosynthetics, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, vice president
- Timothy D. Stark, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, vice president
- Jonathan Curry, Geosynthetic Materials Association, Roseville, Minn., liaison member
- John Henderson, TenCate Geosynthetics, Pendergrass, Ga., past president
Educate the Educators
Educate the Educators (EtE), a geosynthetics training program for university professors, will be held in December 2017 at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Too many young engineers enter the field without state-of-the-art geotechnical knowledge because their formal schooling overlooks a key discipline in current geotechnical practice: geosynthetics. Building on the success of EtE Austin, held in 2015, IGS–NA is now offering a second EtE program this December. The course will be taught by four exceptional educators and pioneering researchers, including:
- R. Kerry Rowe (Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
- Richard J. Bathurst (Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario)
- Richard Brachman (Queen’s University)
- Jorge Zornberg (University of Texas at Austin)
Interested participants can apply online at bit.ly/2oHklep.
IGS–NA Photo Contest winners
The entries of the winners of the inaugural event appear in this issue’s Final Inspection on page 56.
Call for Sponsorships
IGS–North American Chapter is asking for your help to advance geosynthetics education. Education is essential to attaining the appropriate and widespread use of geosynthetics as engineering materials. IGS–NA is dedicated to expanding the use of geosynthetics through education. To achieve this, IGS–NA is training future users of geosynthetics, training geosynthetics educators, and promoting geosynthetics as part of engineering curricula.
The following sponsorship levels are available to support these important programs:
- Gold sponsor: $20,000 (USD)
- Silver sponsor: $10,000 (USD)
- Bronze sponsor: $5,000 (USD)
If you are interested in sponsorship or have additional questions, please contact IGS–NA past president John Henderson at j.henderson@tencate.com or (706) 693-1836.