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Geotechnical News • September 2014
29
GEOSYNTHETICS
in 41 countries or group of countries,
with several other countries currently
in the process of establishing new
chapters. The society has established
awards programs with emphasis on
rewarding technical excellence, it has
implemented numerous educational
programs, compiled educational mate-
rial, prepared terminology documents
in multiple languages, sponsored stu-
dent programs, and organized numer-
ous outreach programs, to name a few
of its activities and achievements.
Benefits of IGS membership include
reduced registration fees when attend-
ing any of the IGS international,
regional, and national conferences. In
addition, the IGS organizes a number
of additional programs for its mem-
bers, including a series of awards pro-
gram aimed at rewarding technical
excellence, service to the IGS and its
chapters, and a special program focus-
ing on students. The website of the IGS
is being revamped, and you are encour-
aged to visit us at
It provides access to a
significant content of free information,
as well as information that is accessi-
ble in the ‘members only’ section. This
section includes key benefits to IGS
members, in the form of access to the
IGS membership directories, proceed-
ings of the previous IGS Conferences,
educational presentations, and access
to our prestigious journals.
The IGS has been crucial to the
advancement of geosynthetics through
the numerous activities that it has con-
ducted over the years, which aim to
promote education on geosynthetics.
Although geosynthetics are now a well-
established technology in our portfolio
of geotechnical and civil engineering
solutions, ingenuity continues to be
significant in projects that involve their
use. This is likely because of the ability
to tailor their mechanical and hydraulic
properties in order to satisfy specific
needs in the multiple areas of geotech-
nical engineering. Looking ahead, I
anticipate that we will continue to see
a significant growth in geosynthetic
use because of the ongoing needs and
creativity of geotechnical engineers. To
this effect, it is particularly relevant that
we manage to improve the exposure of
geosynthetics to prospective civil engi-
neers (from structural to environmental
to hydraulic to geotechnical engineers)
and related disciplines while, at the
same time, also striving for ingenuity
in the development of new products,
applications and systems.
The North American Geosynthetics Society
Bob Mackey
The North American Geosynthetics
Society was established as a Chapter
of the IGS in 1986. Since the founding
of the Society, the following individu-
als have served as president: Joseph
Fluet ( 1987-1989), Robert Koerner
(1989-1991), Robert Holtz (1991-
1993), Jay Beech (1993-1995), Barry
Christopher (1995-1997), Richard
Bathurst (1997-1999), John Paulson
(1999-2001), Karen Henry (2001-
2003), David Suits (2003-2005),
Grace Hsuan (2005-2008), David
Elton (2008-2011), and Dean Sandri
(2011-2013). NAGS is an organiza-
tion in which individual and student
members comprise the learned society
whose mission, in strong cooperation
with IGS, is to provide leadership in
advancing education and research on
geosynthetics by:
• Organization of and participation
in technical conferences, seminars
and workshops.
• Development and dissemination of
tools for geosynthetics education.
• Recognition of technical contribu-
tions and innovations regarding
geosynthetics.
• Stimulation of geosynthetics
research and their applications
through an Awards Program.
In meeting those goals, we organize
short courses on a variety of geosyn-
thetic topics, and we organize or par-
ticipate as co-organizers and sponsors
of conferences such as the biannual
geosynthetics conference series, the
first of which, Geosynthetics ’87, was
held at New Orleans. Over time, this
has involved significant collaboration
with the Industrial Fabrics Associa-
tion International (IFAI), the Geo-
synthetic Manufacturers Association
(GMA), the American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE) and the Canadian
Geotechnical Society (CGS). Tradi-
tionally, NAGS provides leadership on
developing the technical portion of the
conference sessions. Participation by
students in the activities of NAGS has
been supported in several ways, with
free student membership offered to all
Bob Mackey, NAGS President