Youth and experience were honored in equal measure at accolades given at the recent 12th International Conference on Geosynthetics (12th ICG) in Rome.
The IGS Awards covered the period 2018-2021 and recognised outstanding contributions to the development and use of geosynthetics, related products, or associated technologies through scientific and technological achievements.
Presented by IGS President Sam Allen at the IGS General Assembly meeting on September 20, IGS Awards were presented to:
Dimiter Alexiew
for his innovative sustainable solution for the A1 German highway, which crossed an old, contaminated waste disposal at Leverkusen. His solution enabled a 35% reduction in contaminated waste excavation, also reducing air pollution and health risks.
Erol Tutumluer
for the significant contributions made towards the use of geosynthetics in roadways, railways, and airfields, including innovative quantification and sensing methods.
Yan Yu & Kerry Rowe
for advancing the understanding of down-drag loads from waste settlement on geomembrane liner performance.
Richard J. Bathurst, Tony M. Allen & Yoshi Miyata
for their reliability-based design and analysis of geosynthetic mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls, and other contributions.
Huesker Synthetic GMBH
for advancing development of groundwater protection through innovative geosynthetic contaminant filters.
Young IGS Awards were given to:
Fernanda Bessa Ferreira
for her contribution to the design optimization of geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures.
V. Vinay Kumar
for advances in the application of geosynthetics as asphalt reinforcements.
IGS President Sam Allen presented the IGS Service Awards, awarded by the IGS Council to recognize the commitment and dedication to the Society and the greater good of the geosynthetics discipline. Recipients were:
Francesco Fontana
for his outstanding dedication to IGS’s Corporate activities, sustainability work and the promotion of geosynthetics.
Hervé Plusquellec
recognizing his instrumental role in connecting the IGS to the ICID, FAO and World Bank, and promoting the use of geosynthetics in irrigation infrastructures globally.
Boyd Ramsey
for his significant contributions as Chair of the Financial Committee, Chair of TC-Barriers, Co-Chair of the Sustainability Committee, Secretary and Treasurer of the IGS Foundation and as a regular Educate the Educators speaker.
Laura Carbone
for her tireless work to promote young member participation across all levels of the IGS, as Co-Chair of the inaugural Young Members Committee (YMC), and later Chair of the YMC and European Region YMC.
The IGS Awards committee was made up of Mr Allen, with chair Erol Güler, Neil Dixon, Jiro Kuwano and Katja Gross.
The 12th ICG, themed ‘Geosynthetics: leading the way to a resilient planet’, was hosted by IGS Italy between September 17-21 in Rome.
