IGS-NA Educational Initiatives for 2017

We believe 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 the IGS-NA is actively: training future users of geosynthetics, training geosynthetic educators, and promoting geosynthetics as part of engineering curricula.

To facilitate these educational goals we have two exciting programs:

  • Educate the Educators (EtE)
  • Educate the Students (EtS)

Educate The EducatorsEducate the Educators | A Geosynthetics Training Program for University Professors
December 2017, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

We know that many undergraduate engineering programs completely lack geosynthetic instruction, often instructors may not have the knowledge, confidence or materials to effectively teach geosynthetics. In order to address this the IGS-NA offers Educate the Educators (EtE), a 2-day, funded program for University professors. EtE provides specialized, hands-on training and lecture materials to equip attending Professors with the tools they need offer effective geosynthetics course work in their engineering programs. Attending professors receive instruction, course materials (including power point presentations, hand outs and sample binders) and have continued access to the instructors as they develop their own programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Building on the success of EtE Austin, held in 2015, participants will receive training and educational material on the fundamentals of geosynthetics as well as exposure to the state-of-knowledge on geosynthetics in reinforcement and environmental applications. This year approximately 35 Student-Professors will attend our second EtE event, to be held in Kingston, ON in December of 2017.

We are very excited to have four exceptional educators and pioneering researchers as the EtE lead instructors: R. Kerry Rowe (Queen’s University), Richard J. Bathurst (Royal Military College of Canada) Richard Brachman (Queens University) and Jorge Zornberg (University of Texas Austin).

Educate the Students | A Guest Lecture Series for University Students
2017-18 School Year, on location as arranged

Educate the Educators is only part of the long-term strategy to train “future users” of geosynthetics. We also want to directly Educate the Students (EtS) by offer engaging and effective geosynthetic lectures which will immediately impact engineers-in-training. Lectures will be tailored to need of each program, and topics may range from fundamental to sophisticated. Particular focus will be made on large engineering schools. IGS-NA will support the development of the content and the costs associated with the transportation of the professors to/from the guest lectures.

Why are we doing this again….?

In 2015 we hosted 45 EtE Student-Professors in August of 2016 we surveyed those professors, this is what we found…

40% of 2015 EtE Attendees’ University Programs contained NO Geosynthetic Content what so ever of those surveyed, 87% of those professors responded with a plan to incorporate the EtE programming at their institution.

  • 37.5% added geosynthetics content in the 2015-16 school year
  • 25 % added geosynthetics content in the 16-17 school year
  • 25 % were developing programs to be added in the 2017-18 school year.

 
Of those …

  • 46% added a 50 minute introduction to geosynthetics lecture
  • 69% added EtE content where appropriate in the context of existing course work

 
Of the 60% of the attendees whose course work already included some mention of geosynthetics 82% indicated that based on the EtE an increase in the geosynthetics content was incorporated for the 2015-16 academic year!


The budget for these two programs is $80,000 US. The IGS-NA is offering sponsorship programs in order to fund both projects. IGS-NA is seeking sponsors. If you or your company would like to consider supporting long-term quality growth of geosynthetics usage through sponsorship of either or both of these programs. Please don’t hesitate to call or write. Sponsorships available.

Thank you Current Sponsors!

Sponsorship Opportunities

Gold Sponsor $20,000 USD

  • Table top exhibit space at EtE
  • Company name and logo on external covers of printed material
  • Company name and logo recognized as a sponsor at the beginning of each day’s presentations
  • Opportunity to present a case study to the EtE Students during the program
  • Case study presentation included in the Student-Professors’ materials for re-use
  • Attendee list
  • Recognition as Sponsor for each of the Educate the Students events in the 2017-18 educational year
  • Opportunity to contribute labeled materials for sample boxes provided to Student-Professors
  • Opportunity to distribute electronic materials via the Educate the Students
  • Inclusion on all promotional materials including web site and social media regarding both of the programs.

 
Silver Sponsor $10,000 USD

  • Table top space at EtE
  • Company name and logo on internal covers of printed materials
  • Company name and logo recognized as a secondary sponsor at the beginning of each day’s presentations
  • Attendee list
  • Recognition as Sponsor for each of the Educate the Students events in the 2017-18 educational year
  • Opportunity to contribute labeled materials for sample boxes provided to Student-Professors

 
Bronze Sponsor $ 5,000 USD

  • Company name and logo on internal covers of printed materials
  • Company name and logo recognized as a secondary sponsor at the beginning of each day’s presentations
  • Opportunity to present a case study to the EtE Students during the program
  • Recognition as Sponsor for each of the Educate the Students events in the 2017-18 educational year

 
If you are interested in sponsorship or have additional questions please contact John Henderson, J.Henderson@TenCate.com< or call +1.706 693 1836.

Educate the Educators Participation Application

Educate The EducatorsEducate The Educators
A Geosynthetics Training Program for University Professors
4-5 December 2017, 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

Let the geosynthetics community provide you the resources to teach your students about geosynthetics!

We know that many undergraduate engineering programs lack geosynthetic instruction, often instructors may not have the resources, confidence or materials to effectively teach geosynthetics. In order to address this the IGS-NA offers Educate the Educators (EtE), a 2-day, funded program for university professors.

EtE provides specialized, hands-on training and lecture materials to equip attending professors with the tools they need to offer effective geosynthetics course work in their engineering programs. Attending professors receive instruction, course materials (including power point presentations, hand outs and sample binders) and have continued access to the instructors as they develop their own programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Building on the success of EtE Austin, held in 2015, IGS-NA is now offering a second EtE event, to be held in Kingston, Ontario in December of 2017. We are very excited to have four exceptional educators and pioneering researchers as the EtE lead instructors: R. Kerry Rowe (Queen’s University), Richard J. Bathurst (Royal Military College of Canada), Richard Brachman (Queen’s University) and Jorge Zornberg (University of Texas Austin).

Each successful applicant will need only to organize transportation to/from the course. The IGS and IGS-NA and their sponsors will provide food, lodging and course registration to all successful candidates.

Schedule Overview

  • 3 Dec. Travel into Kingston
  • 4 Dec. 8:00 am – 5:00 pm – Day 1 course
  • 4 Dec. Evening – Laboratory tour with demonstrations followed by hosted group dinner
  • 5 Dec.  8:00 am – 5:00 pm – Day 2 course
    * Attendees will be expected to stay to the course completion 
  • Departure on 5 or 6 of Dec. depending on availability

 

Applicants will be asked to upload their C.V., provide information about the courses they teach and write a short description identifying how they would hope to incorporate the information from EtE in their curriculum.

Interested participants can apply online.

Please send all questions to info@IGS-NA.org or call +1 561 463 5868

A Very Successful Educate the Educator (ETE) Program

ETE Photo

Top: Participants in the NAGS Hosted Educate the Educator; Bottom: NAGS President-elect Richard Brachman leading one session of ETE

The North American Geosynthetics Society hosted “Educate the Educators: A Geosynthetics Training Program for University Professors” on 28–29 July 2015 in Austin, Texas.

This program provided core geosynthetic content, background information, and materials for use in the classroom so that participants can offer fundamental geosynthetics instruction in their engineering programs. The primary goal of the event was to teach every participant how to offer at least one 50-minute class on geosynthetics at the undergraduate level. Lecture notes and a hands-on learning module were provided to support this fundamental lecture. Additional class content and resources for senior undergraduate and graduate courses was also presented, discussed and provided.

The training sessions were be led by NAGS members Dr. Jorge Zornberg of The University of Texas at Austin, geotechnical consultant Dr. Barry Christopher and Dr. Richard Brachman of Queen’s University. Corporate sponsors contributed to technical education by providing informative and interesting case histories as well as special hands-on laboratory explanations and demonstrations by technical experts.

“The quality of the program and the reception of the material by the attendees was excellent,” stated John Henderson, PE, President of NAGS. “Educate the Educators is one of the key strategic programs for NAGS to fulfill our mission to improve the knowledge base of civil engineering professionals about geosynthetics.”

Educate the Educators hosted 43 visiting professors from North America and participants from Italy, Peru, China, Indonesia and Egypt.

This non-commercial educational event was chaired by Mr. Boyd Ramsey of GSE Environmental and created by the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS). The event was hosted by the IGS’s North American Chapter (NAGS) and supported by generous sponsors: Geosynthetic Materials Association, Geosynthetic Institute, TenCate Geosynthetics, Erosion Control Technology Council, Presto Geosystems, GSE Environmental, Huesker, Thrace-Linq, and TRI.

Educate the Educators – Call for Applications

  199_PhotoAward2014_honorablemention_w500Too many engineers enter the field without state-of-the-art geotechnical knowledge, because their formal schooling overlooks a key piece of modern practice: geosynthetics.

Let the geosynthetics community provide resources to teach your students about geosynthetics.

Geosynthetics were the only new class of construction materials developed in the 20th century. Over the past 40 years, they have become fully integrated into all areas of environmental and civil infrastructure design and execution. Their cost-effective, environmentally strong performance has been well documented. In some cases, federal regulations even require their use (e.g., waste management). Today, every major engineering firm has designated geosynthetic experts on staff.   Yet, geosynthetics are taught in less than 45 engineering programs in North American colleges and universities. This has produced an enormous knowledge gap.

Multiple geotechnical and geosynthetics professional societies and organizations are joining together to sponsor a geosynthetics education program specific to supporting educators. “Educate the Educators: A Geosynthetics Training Program for University Professors” will be held 28 – 29 July 2015 in Austin, Texas. This program will provide core geosynthetic content, background information, and materials for use in the classroom so that participants may include geosynthetics in their engineering curricula.  The event presents a single 50-minute class on geosynthetics for the undergraduate level; but it also provides a framework for additional class content and resources up to and including a graduate-level class on geosynthetics.

Please apply on line at: http://www.ifai.com/forms/educatetheeducators

The sessions will be led by Dr. Richard Brachman of Queen’s University, Dr. Jorge Zornberg of The University of Texas at Austin, and field veteran Barry Christopher.

This is a non-commercial event being conducted under the auspices of the IGS North America and created by the International Geosynthetics Society , and supported by the Geosynthetic Institute, the Geosynthetic Materials Association, and other industry groups and companies.

There are approximately 40 seats in the course. Successful applicants will be provided with hotel, meals, and transportation in Austin. Successful applicants will need only to fund their travel to Austin.

183_PhotoAward2014_thirdplace_w500When: 28 – 29 July 2015    Where: Austin, Texas

In applying for participation, please include:

  • Copy of CV with publications, papers, etc.
  • A short commentary on how you can include this content in your institution’s engineering curricula
  • List of courses for which you are responsible

Applicants will be notified of their enrollment status during the second week in June. Priority will be given to those individuals judged to have influence over the content of the programs at their respective institutions.

APPLY ONLINE TO PARTICIPATE

Please apply today.  We encourage you to spread the word on this program to your colleagues in education. Spaces are limited, so act promptly. Please contact me using the information below if you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

Boyd Ramsey

Chief Engineer – GSE Environmental LLC
GMA Chairman
IGS Council Member

Co-Chair IGS Technical Committee on Barriers
Co-Chair IGS North America Educate the Educators Program

BRamsey@GSEworld.com

+1.281.797.6183

IGS announces the “Educate The Educators” program

Educate The EducatorsWhy are your students, students from your alma mater and other Universities you hire from not graduating with knowledge of the “state of the art” of geotechnical engineering practices?

Let the geosynthetics industry teach you how to teach your students about geosynthetics.

Geosynthetics are the newest addition to “state of the art” engineering design and execution. Used for over 30 years, geosynthetics are critical to environmental and infrastructure civil construction. Geosynthetics are cost-effective, environmentally friendly and in many cases required by federal US regulations. Every major engineering firm has designated geosynthetic experts on staff.

Yet geosynthetics are taught in less than 45 engineering programs within the universities in the North America.

All of the geosynthetic industry societies and organizations are joining to sponsor a program to provide content and knowledge for geosynthetic education. Called “Educate the Educators: A Geosynthetics Training Program for University Professors.” It will be held in July 2015 in Austin, Texas. This program will provide content, materials and background to include geosynthetics in your universities engineering curriculum. The event presents a single 50 minute class on geosynthetics for the undergraduate level but also provides a framework for additional class content and resources up to and including a graduate level class on geosynthetics.

APPLY ONLINE TO PARTICIPATE

The sessions will be led by Dr. Richard Brachman of Queen’s University, Dr. Jorge Zornberg of The University of Texas and Barry Christopher. This is a non-commercial event being conducted under the auspices of the North American Geosynthetics Society and supported by the International Geosynthetics Society, the Geosynthetic Institute, the Geosynthetic Materials Association and other industry groups and companies.

With the exception of travel to and from Austin, all expenses will be paid. Priority will be given to those individuals judged to have influence over the content of the programs at their respective institutions.

Dates: July 28-29, 2015
Location: Austin, Texas

What is needed to apply: Copy of CV, listing of courses taught and a short commentary telling us how you can include this content in your universities curriculum.

We encourage you to both apply today and to spread the word on this program to those colleges and universities we may not reach. Please act promptly, spaces are limited. Please contact me using the information below if you have any additional questions.

APPLY ONLINE TO PARTICIPATE

Sincerely,
Boyd Ramsey
Chief Engineer – GSE Environmental LLC
GMA Chairman
Co-Chair IGS Technical Committee on Barriers
Email: BRamsey@GSEworld.com
Phone: +1.281.797.6183