IGS North America update: Education in the spotlight

IGS North America (IGS-NA) has an educational mission, focused on both today’s contributors to the civil engineering field and tomorrow’s (students). With regard to students, the 2023-2024 IGS-NA board has numerous irons in the fire:

We issued four fellowships (currently $500 each) in February as part of our joint initiative with the Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) and ASTM International Committee D35 on Geosynthetics. The program is designed to help expedite the creation of new standards or the revision of existing standards.

We co-supported the student research showcase at Geosynthetics Conference 2023 with the Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA).

We are organizing a GeoJeopardy competition among eight invited college programs at GeoAmericas 2024 (geoamericas2024.org) in Toronto, Ont., Canada, next year.

The chapter will take part in the student paper competition from the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) Young Members Committee. A paper competition will be held this fall and the winning IGS-NA student member will receive a full registration to GeoAmericas and receive additional money from the IGS.

We are beginning a project to develop interactive, short lessons about geosynthetics for inclusion in engineering classes at universities.

We need your help!

IGS North America invites its members to help us support our student initiatives. The most direct way is to ensure that your membership is current! Member dues are essential to our ability to support this mission. Contact the group manager, Chris Kelsey (info@igs-na.org), to verify that your membership is in good standing.

Companies that would like to support our student initiatives are invited to become chapter benefactors. These memberships provide essential, extra funding that is used to build our student awards. Contact the chapter office (info@igs-na.org) for details on how you can get involved as a benefactor.

At GeoAmericas 2024, we will have numerous, small sponsorships that will allow us to provide more support for students in Toronto. Please be on the lookout for these sponsorship opportunities. 

Thank you for being part of our engineering community!