IGS Committees – Get Involved
The IGS Council is the governing body of the Society, chaired by the President. There are eight Council Committees that are open to all IGS members to join. These include four Regional Activities Committees (covering Africa and the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Pan-America) and four Operational Committees (covering communication, corporate members, education, and young members). To find our more, click on the links below. If you wish to join one of our open committees please contact the relevant lead – they would love to hear from you!
You can also get involved by applying to join any of the Technical Committees.
In addition to the open committees, there are a number of closed committees covering awards, bylaws, finance and investment.
Regional Committees
Jabulile Msiza is a member of the IGS Council. She holds a Master of Business Administration and two honours degrees in geotechnical and environmental engineering. In 2017 she was awarded the prestigious Consulting Engineers South Africa Young Engineer of the Year Award. Jabulile has gained around 15 years’ experience of geosynthetics at Jones & Wagener Engineering and Environmental Consultants in South Africa, where she leads the Waste Department.
Amir Shahkolahi has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering. He is a fellow member of Engineers Australia. As a designer, project manager, and researcher, he has been involved in the Civil and Geosynthetic industry over the last 20 years and has more than 70 publications and technical presentations in journals and conferences. He is the Technical Manager at Global Synthetics.
Amir was in the executive committee of the IGS Australasian Chapter (ACIGS) from 2013 to 2017, Engineers Australia QLD representative at the sustainability and resiliency working group for developing the Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021, and the chair of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) Queensland chapter in 2022 and 2023. He is now elected national vice-chair of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS), elected Council member of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) for 2023-2027, member of the leadership team of the International Geosynthetics Society Technical Committees for Barriers (TC-B), member of the International Geosynthetics Society Technical Committees for reinforcement (TC-R) and Stabilisation (TC-S), Vice-chair of the IGS Educational Committee, Board member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)-Australian Section, member of the ASTM Technical Committee D35 on Geosynthetics and Committee E60 on Sustainability, Industry Board member of the Australian Pavement Research Hub, representative of Engineers Australia (nationally) in the Standard Australia (SA) Technical Committee for Geosynthetics (SA CE-020) and ISO Technical Committee for Geosynthetics (ISO/TC 221), and member of the Standards Australia Technical Committee CE/032-Reinforced fill structures working group.
Amir is also a board member of the QLD Landfill Working Group, Board member of the Waste Management and Resource Recovery of Australia in QLD, guest lecturer at 4 universities in Australia, and the industry supervisor and advisor for several Geosynthetic research projects in Australia and overseas. He is also a part-time PHD candidate working on a geotechnical geosynthetics research project, finishing in 2024.
Patricia Guerra-Escobar has worked in the field of geotechnics for over 20 years and is passionate about the role that geosynthetics play in civil engineering to deliver innovative, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions. Patricia has worked in several countries, starting in Colombia, before moving to France, and then Costa Rica, where she worked for eight years travelling extensively across Central American countries developing and expanding the use of geosynthetics in the region.
In 2010, Patricia moved to the UK and started to work with Geosynthetics Ltd. where she is currently the manager of the Engineering department. In addition, she served as Chair of the IGS UK Chapter from 2021-2023 and is a member of the TC221 of ISSMGE. A focus of hers throughout her career has been supporting designers and contractors to use geosynthetics solutions in addition to educating the next generation of engineers, through mentoring and presenting at universities.
Francisco Pizarro is a Civil Engineer from Universidad de los Andes (Chile) with a master’s degree (MSc) in finance from ESE Business School (Chile). Most of Mr. Pizarro´s career has involved leading roles for world class geosynthetic manufacturers where he was been responsible for introduction, prescription, and commercialization of erosion control, reinforcement, and drainage products.
Mr. Pizarro served as President of the IGS Chilean Chapter from 2019-2023. During his tenure, Mr. Pizarro and the Board encouraged the understanding and appropriate use of geosynthetics in Chile and the rest of Latin America with a series of short courses, workshops, and events, such as, Educate the Educators. Mr. Pizarro is also supporting creation of new IGS chapters in Bolivia and Guatemala with bylaws and company recruitment. In addition, Mr. Pizarro is leading a series of conferences in several Civil Engineer Schools in Latin America to promote the use of geosynthetics in infrastructure projects.
Operational Committees
Angelo Ricciuti is a Chartered Professional Engineer and has been a member of the Italian Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (AGI-IGS) since 1993. With over 33 years of experience in the geosynthetics industry, he has held various roles, including Design Engineer and Export Manager at Tenax SpA (1990-2012), Director at NewGrids Ltd (since 2012), and Managing Director at NextCo srl (since 2019). Currently, he serves as a technical and marketing consultant for BOSTD Geosynthetics Ltd, with international expertise in geosynthetics solutions like soil stabilization, erosion control, and drainage across over 70 countries. He has co-authored several technical papers presented at major international conferences.
Fady B. Abdelaal, Ph.D., P.Eng., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada. His research expertise involves polymeric and bituminous geosynthetic barrier systems for geoenvironmental applications, with a focus on understanding their long-term degradation behaviour. His work spans the use of geomembranes in solid waste landfills, low level radioactive waste containment, potable water reservoirs, and mining operations. Additionally, he investigates the long-term interface shear strength of geosynthetic barrier systems, contaminant diffusion through geomembranes, and the performance of geosynthetic liners in frozen conditions. Dr. Abdelaal currently serves as the vice President – University Outreach for IGS-NA and the Academic support for the delivery of projects, Technical Committee barriers (IGS-TC B). He was the immediate past Chair of the Geosynthetic Division of the Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS). He also serves on the editorial boards of Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Geosynthetics International, Environmental Geotechnics, and Frontiers for Built Environment Journals.
Viviana Mangraviti, PhD., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the University of Padova, Padua, Italy. Her research expertise on geosynthetics focuses on the mathematical modelling of Geosynthetic-Reinforced and Pile-Supported Embankments and their design to improve sustainability. Her work in geotechnics includes the numerical modelling of unsaturated slopes and levee embankments. Dr. Mangraviti’s is one of the founders of IGS Diversity Task-Force and served as vice-chair of the IGS Young Members Committee (YMC) for one year.
Preston Kendall is the General Manager at COLETANCHE in Georgia, USA. With a background in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Physics from The University of the South, he has over a decade of experience in the geosynthetics industry. Throughout his career, he has held technical roles with major manufacturers, providing support to design engineers, developing new testing and installation methods for various materials, and creating software tools to optimize the use of geosynthetics.
As an IGS member since 2013, Mr. Kendall has held various roles within the organization, including serving as Secretary for TC-F, Co-Chair of the Young Members Committee, and editor for the IGS News within the Communications Committee. He has also been an active member of the Sustainability Committee since it’s inception.
Yuse Lajiminmuhip serves as a Marketing and Outreach Leader at AGRU AMERICAS, INC, where he champions initiatives that promote sustainable infrastructure, health, and technology.
Mr. Lajiminmuhip is also serving as the the Chair of the FedIGS Joint Technical Committee 4 (JTC4), tackling Sustainability issues in the geo-engineering industry with four sister societies.
Do you want to join us?
Membership in the IGS is a valuable investment for anyone interested in the engineering and geosynthetics industry.
- December 4, 2024
- October 29, 2024
- October 21, 2024
- April 22, 2024
