Changing practice by changing education – IGS North America Educates the Educators

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2020

IGS North America successfully held their third Educate the Educators (EtE) event on December 9-10, 2019 at the University of California, San Diego.  Richard Brachman (Queen’s University), John McCartney (University of California, San Diego) and Ben Leshchinsky (Oregon State University) served as the Instructors.  After one-half-day on the fundamentals of geosynthetics, the remainder of the two-day event provided specialized technical training on environmental, transportation and reinforcing applications of geosynthetics.

The 2019 EtE class was comprised of 22 professors (19 from the USA, 3 from Canada) at the Assistant to Associate Professor rank who all want to teach geosynthetics in their courses.

They were the ideal target audience for EtE as one-third initially identified as geosynthetic novices while the rest had intermediate knowledge on geosynthetics.  This served as an excellent common starting point for lectures and discussions aimed at equipping our class with new knowledge and materials to teach geosynthetics.

EtE 2019 was made possible with the generous financial support of TenCate Geosynthetics, Cetco / Mineral Technologies, Solmax, Huesker and the International Geosynthetics Society.  Sponsor representatives John Lostumbo, Adam Maskal, and Lilma Schimmel were also part of the instructional team.  In addition to delivering high-quality technical case histories, their active, hands-on involvement in the geosynthetics identification workshop was a key part of the training we offered.

IGS North America believes education is essential to attain the appropriate and widespread use of geosynthetics as engineering materials.  Educate the Educators (EtE) was developed and offered in conjunction with the International Geosynthetics Society and industry partners to provide specialized, hands-on training and lecture materials to equip Professors to offer effective geosynthetics content at their own schools.  Special thanks are expressed to Jorge Zornberg (University of Texas at Austin) and Richard Bathurst (Royal Military College of Canada) for sharing their transportation and reinforcement notes with our class.

IGS-NA Mission

The Mission of IGS North America is to provide leadership in advancing geosynthetics education and research to attain their appropriate and widespread use as engineering materials as the Chapter of the International Geosynthetic Society (IGS) for the United States of America and Canada.

About IGS-NA

IGS-NA (The North American Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society) is an organization in which individual and student members comprise the learned society whose mission is to support the development of geosynthetics technologies through education, communication and networking. Towards those goals we organize short courses on a variety of geosynthetic topics (typically 3–5 per year), organize or participate as co-organizers and sponsors of conferences such as the Biannual Geosynthetics Conferences put on in odd years with IFAI and GMA, various conferences with the Geosynthetics Research Institute, ASCE, and other local and regional organizations. In many instances, IGS-NA provides the technical arm to develop the technical portion of the conference sessions. Our members are eligilble to participate in all IGS-NA and IGS events and receive discounts in accordance with the individual guidelines of each conference and are typically substantial enough to compensate for the IGS-NA membership fee with just one event registration. Programs sponsored by IGS-NA at our events include Student Award program, Awards of Excellence and others, all of which provide public and financial recognition to the award recipients.

Educate the Educators 2019 – Call for Applications

IGS-NA’s Educate the Educators on Geosynthetics: Call for Applications
UC San Diego – December 9-10, 2019
As the Learned Society for geosynthetics in North America, IGS North America (IGS-NA) is pleased to call for applications to Educate the Educators 2019. This is a focussed, 2-day, specialized training event where leading experts and educators will equip college and university Professors to teach geosynthetics at their schools. Participants need only to pay their travel costs to La Jolla California. Funding from industry, the International Geosynthetics Society and the Members of IGS North America will be used to run the event and host our participants. For additional details, please visit: Educate the Educators 2019

FREE December 4 Webinar on Geosynthetic-Stabilized Roads

On December 4, Dr. Jie Han (University of Kansas) will present the next IGS North America webinar. His topic: “Recent Developments in Geosynthetic-Stabilized Roads: Introduction and Mechanisms.” The free event is part of the new IGS North America – GMA webinar series. Time for the presentation will be 1:00 – 2:00 pm EST.

REGISTER NOW

December 4 Webinar - Geosynthetic-Stabilized Roads Webinar

GEOSYNTHETIC-STABILIZED ROADS

Geotextiles, geogrids, and geocells have been used widely in roadway stabilization works throughout the world. In this webinar, Dr. Jie Han will deliver an introduction to geosynthetics in roadway engineering. His presentation will focus on the mechanisms involved in geosynthetic stabilization of unpaved and paved roads. Dr. Han is one of the leading practitioners in this area of geosynthetic design and research, and his work has contributed significantly to field understanding on how we can improve soil mechanical properties with geosynthetics and how these design decisions may involve two different functions/mechanisms—reinforcement and stabilization—which depend on geosynthetic/soil properties and loading conditions. The webinar will illustrate the differences and relationships between reinforcement and stabilization by geosynthetics in roads and discuss the selection of proper geosynthetics for specific applications based on controlling mechanisms.

Dr. Jie Han is the Glenn L. Parker Professor of Geotechnical Engineering in the Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Department at the University of Kansas. He has nearly 30 years of teaching, research, and practical experience in geotechnical and pavement engineering focused on geosynthetics and ground improvement. Dr. Han has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers as well as the text Principles and Practice of Ground Improvement.

Date: December 4
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 pm EST
Cost: Free

REGISTER NOW

Ben Leshchinsky Leads November 1 GMA-IGS North America Webinar

Ben Leshchinsky

Dr. Ben Leshchinsky

On November 1, Dr. Ben Leshchinsky (Oregon State University) will present the next IGS North America webinar. His topic is one of the biggest topics in the field right now: “A Different Approach towards Limit State Design of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Structures.”

This online event is FREE to industry professionals and students. It’s part of a new series of webinars jointly hosted by the Geosynthetic Materials Association and IGS North America.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

Date: November 1
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 pm EST

ABOUT THE NOVEMBER 1 WEBINAR

Conventional design of geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures is divided into two categories, walls and slopes, based on the batter of the facing system. Internal stability, characterized as sufficient reinforcement anchoring and strength, is performed using earth pressure-based design criteria for reinforced walls, while reinforced slopes are founded on limit equilibrium (LE) slope stability analyses. LE analyses are also used to assess the global or compound stability of both types of structures, accounting for the geometry of the reinforced, retained, and foundation soils.

A Different Approach towards Limit State Design of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Structures

The application of LE-based methods typically results in determination of a slip surface corresponding to the lowest attained Safety Factor (SF), known as the Factor of Safety (Fs); however, it yields little information about reinforcement or connection loading. In this presentation, Dr. Ben Leshchinsky will show how the use of the analyzed spatial distribution of SF (known as a Safety Map) can be modified to attain a prescribed constant Fs at any location in the reinforced soil mass. This modified framework directly enables the determination of a Tension Map that illustrates the required distribution of reinforcement tension to attain a prescribed state of equilibrium. To illustrate the utility of the Limit State framework, a series of instructive examples will be presented. The results of this design approach demonstrate the effects of facing elements, closely-spaced reinforcements, and secondary reinforcement layers. Comparison will also be provided to conventional design approaches.

Ben Leshchinsky, Ph.D., P.E. is an associate professor in geotechnical engineering at Oregon State University. His primary research interests focus on slope stability, reinforced soil, and applications of geomechanics towards assessment of natural hazards.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

IGS North America 2019 Photo Contest Is Now Open

The IGS North America 2019 Photo Contest is open to all members of IGS North America. The contest will be open 1 October – 15 December 2018. First, second, and third place winners will be announced in February during the IGS North America General Assembly held at Geosynthetics 2019 in Houston, Texas.

Click on the pictures below to view the 2017 winners.

Take advantage of this great opportunity to demonstrate geosynthetics in action!  All entries should include a photo title, description, and photo credit.

  • Photos should clearly display a geosynthetic type/function in use
  • Photos should provide a clear understanding of what geosynthetic type/function or event is being demonstrated
  • Contestants must be an IGS-NA member in good standing

Contest photos will be used to promote the exemplary work of the geosynthetics community, raise awareness of the importance of your expertise, and add to the beneficial dialogue between professionals and the larger engineering community. Credit to the winning submissions will be given. Promote your work. Promote your field.

Submit photos here.  Thank you for your participation in the 2019 Photo Contest!

If you have questions about the IGS-NA Photo Contest, please contact info@igs-na.org.

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Not a member? Join now, gain access to valuable engineering resources (such as the official journals of the International Geosynthetics Society), and share your work through the photo contest! 

IGS North America 2019 Elections – Call for Nominations

The Mission of IGS North America is to provide leadership in advancing geosynthetics education and research to attain their appropriate and widespread use as engineering materials in the United States and Canada. We encourage all members interested in playing a larger role in leadership and program and service development to consider standing for office with IGS-NA.

Nominations for the following seats are accepted through 30 September 2018:

1 Seat – President Elect. Serves one 2-year-term of office in that capacity followed by one 2-year term as President and an additional 2-year term as Past-President. As President-Elect, the successful candidate will be responsible for assisting the President and performing assignments directed by the President and/or Board.

2 Seats – Vice-President. Serves a 4-year term. Vice-Presidents are responsible for representing Members of IGS-NA and performing assignments directed by the President and/or Board.

To nominate someone or yourself, email info@IGS-NA.org.

Please include the nominee name, title, company/institution/organization, address, email, and phone. Also, please include a 150-word description about the nominee’s involvement in the geosynthetics industry and reason(s) for running for the seat. Please also include a photo of the nominee.

IGS NORTH AMERICA 2019 ELECTIONS IMPORTANT DATES

  • 1 – 30 September 2018 – Call for Nominations
  • 1 – 15 December 2018 – Election by electronic ballot
  • 19 – 21 December 2018 – Successful candidates notified. Announcement made.
  • 10 – 13 February 2019 – Newly elected Board Members take office at the IGS North America General Assembly, to be held in Houston, Texas during Geosynthetics 2019.

QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact the Chairman of the IGS-NA Nomination Committee and Past-President John Henderson (j.henderson@tencategeo.com).

IGS North America Establishes Service Award

The North American Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS-NA) has established an Excellence in Service Award to recognize members who have shown outstanding leadership and dedication to the objectives of the North American Chapter of the International Geosynthetic Society (IGS-NA) or the geosynthetics industry. Award recipients must be an IGS-NA member in good standing, or have been an IGS-NA Member at the time the services to be recognized were performed.  Recipients may be individuals (one or more than one), corporations, or students.

Those considered for the award shall have excelled with regard to one or more of the following criteria:

  1. Provided leadership in advancing geosynthetics education and research,
  2. Created opportunities to collect, evaluate and disseminate knowledge on all matters relevant to geosynthetics, and their application,
  3. Organization of technical conferences, seminars, and workshops,
  4. Advanced training of current users of geosynthetics,
  5. Advancement of the science and technology of geosynthetics and their applications
  6. Training future users of geosynthetics,
  7. Training geosynthetic educators,
  8. Promotion of geosynthetics as part of engineering curricula,
  9. Targeting impactful new Members of IGS-NA,
  10. Better communication with Members of IGS-NA,
  11. Enhanced partnerships with associated organizations.

The first edition of the award(s) will be presented at Geosynthetics 2019 in Houston, Texas.  Nominations for award recipients may be made at any time by IGS-NA members or the IGS-NA Board of Directors with a deadline of October 1st, 2018.  Please send your nominations to info@igs-na.org.

Hundreds of people and dozens of companies have contributed to the evolution and success of IGS-NA (formerly NAGS) over the past 30+ years. Thus, with the establishment of this award, we have an opportunity to recognize a great number of deserving and outstanding members, peers, and friends. IGS-NA members are encouraged to submit nominations for people and corporations to be considered for the award.

Educate the Educators 2019 – San Diego, California

Following IGS North America’s successful Educate the Educators (EtE) event in Kingston, Ontario (December 2017), plans began towards the next gathering. Educate the Educators provides training and educational materials to professors from across North America to enable them to offer state-of-practice geosynthetics education to their students. In Kingston, 35 professors took part, adding to the 40+ who gained the introduction in Austin, Texas in 2015.

In 2019, IGS North America will again facilitate another EtE. San Diego, California has been identified as the next site.

IGS North America would like to thank its 2017 Diamond Event Sponsors: CETCO, Solmax/GSE, and TenCate.  Sapphire Event Sponsors were Agru, HUESKER and Thrace-Linq.

IGS-NA would like to recognize the 2015 EtE Sponsors too.  Remaining funds from the 2015 event were used to support the 2017 event as well.  Thank you to GMA, Geosynthetic Institute, TenCate, ECTC, Presto, GSE, HUESKER, Thrace-Linq and TRI Environmental.

Plans for the 2019 EtE San Diego will be updated at our members meeting in Houston this February at  Geosynthetics 2019.

2019 Student Presentation Competition

IGS-North America invites abstracts (400 words maximum) for the 2019 Student Presentation Competition, to be held during the Geosynthetics 2019 conference, 10 – 13 February 2019 at the Marriott Marquis in Houston, Texas. Abstracts should be submitted to info@igs-na.org by 29 October 2018.

Abstracts submitted to the Student Presentation Competition will be reviewed by a panel of judges. The student authors of the top 5 abstracts will be selected to give a 15-minute presentation during a special session at the conference. Depending on the number of quality abstract submissions, there may be a subsequent presentation component to select the top 5 student presenters. The selected student presenters will be notified by 1 December 2018. The selected student presenters will receive a complimentary conference registration. The panel of judges will select the winner of the presentation competition, who will be awarded a cash prize sponsored by the Geosynthetic Materials Association at one of the Plenary Sessions.

NOTE: The faculty advisor of the student is required to be a member of IGS North America. No written papers are required as part of this competition.

IGS North America Offers FREE Membership for Students

Graduate and undergraduate students: please consider joining IGS North America for free.  Registration can be completed online at www.IGS-NA.org. As a member you will receive the IGS News, online access to the Geosynthetics International Journal and Geotextiles and Geomembranes Journal, and secure access to various International Geosynthetics Society conference proceedings (totaling more than 1800 technical papers). You’ll also receive an IGS lapel pin, access to the IGS online membership directory, and eligibility for IGS Awards, including the prestigious IGS Student Paper award program ($1000 scholarship to attend a regional conference) and/or IGS Young Member award.

Current IGS North America members – PLEASE forward this membership offer to current university/college students.

SEE ALSO: 2019 Student Paper Competition