Australasian Chapter Launches New Conference

Pack your hat and sunscreen and head to the IGS’s newest conference this June – GEOANZ#1 in Brisbane, Australia.

Hosted by the Australasian chapter of the IGS, known as ACigs, the three-day event gathers eminent speakers and masterclasses themed around the topic of ‘Advances in Geosynthetics’.

The conference, which aims to be a biennial event, was a natural development following many successful ACigs education and outreach activities over the last few years including 30-plus webinars, Educate the Educator events and more.

Running June 7-9 at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, the program begins with three masterclasses on advances in design and construction with geosynthetics for:

• Hydraulic structures and environmental containment
• Retaining structures, slopes and roadways
• Mine tailings and closure applications

Keynote talks on the other days are set to cover topics including geo-environmental applications, reinforcement and stabilization, geosynthetics for mining, and sustainability, durability and innovation. There will also be a conference dinner and site tours.

Speakers include John Cowland, Boyd Ramsey, and Professors Craig Benson, Malek Bouazza, Timothy Stark and Jorge Zornberg.

Abstracts are also welcome with a deadline recently extended to February 28, at 5pm AEDT. Selected papers will be programmed for presentation in 20-minute slots giving a more informal structure to these sessions, encouraging greater involvement and a wider range of topics.

Ten student scholarships have been made available for ACigs members to attend GEOANZ#1 for free thanks to a donation from the IGS Foundation (IGSF), a charitable body set up to support the IGS’s educational aims. Apply here by March 31 if you qualify.

Chapter President Siamak Paulson said: “We’re incredibly excited to bring this new conference to members and the wider IGS and geosynthetics community. It’s important to be aware and maintain knowledge of developments and trends in the industry – that is how we improve and innovate – and this event is an ideal opportunity to learn about current challenges and solutions.

“We’re also delighted to be able to offer 10 student scholarships to members and we thank the IGSF for making this possible.

“While the conference is in the Australia/New Zealand region, we have invited distinguished speakers from overseas and are expecting participation from many surrounding countries such as Papua New Guinea and South East Asia. Also, we have so far received several abstracts from overseas presenters from Europe and the US who are expected to attend the conference.

“We aim to stage GEOANZ every two years and hope our inaugural event will be a lively and informative start to a key fixture in the IGS calendar.”

To register for GEOANZ#1, click here.