The International Geosynthetics Society’s Educate the Educators program has had a substantial and beneficial impact on college-level geotechnical and civil engineering programs. EtE workshops provide high-caliber professional development and resources for professors and instructors to incorporate geosynthetics into their curricula. The endeavor is essential, as too many young engineers enter the field without full state-of-the-art geotechnical knowledge. Their formal schooling often overlooks a key discipline in current geotechnical practice: geosynthetics.
While Educate the Educators has reached many world regions since it was aggressively reinstituted by the IGS around 2015, Australia and New Zealand have remained major markets without an EtE event. ACIGS, which is the Australian Chapter of the IGS, is correcting this in early 2019. In February, it will host a two-day, fully funded Educate the Educators event in Queensland.
DATES: 20 – 21 February 2019
VENUE: Mantra on View Hotel (Surfers Paradise, Queensland)
RELATED: Educate the Educators Succeeds in Texas
Interested professors/instructors must apply to be given a seat. Only lecturers from Australia and New Zealand may take advantage of this program. Each successful applicant will need to organize transportation to/from the course venue, but ACIGS and the EtE sponsors will fully fund all accommodation, meals, and course registration.
Space is limited to 25 participants to enable focused discussion and support of curricula development. APPLY ONLINE. (Scroll to bottom of the event information page for the application form.)
ACIGS & EDUCATE THE EDUCATORS
The Educate the Educators program is taught by well-known engineering professors who are specialized in geosynthetics and curricula development. They provide sample lessons and materials to help course leaders return to their universities with immediately implementable strategies and resources. In Queensland, the program will be led by three heavyweights in the field:
- Former IGS President Prof. Jorge Zornberg (University of Texas – Austin)
- Timothy D. Stark (University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign)
- Chungsik Yoo (IGS President).
EtE provides specialized, hands-on training and lecture materials to equip attending lecturers with the tools they need to offer geosynthetics within their engineering programs. Included in the ACIGS EtE program are tours of a geosynthetic materials testing laboratory (TRI Environmental) and a manufacturing facility. Practical demonstrations and sample lectures will be presented.
Program for February 20:
- Geosynthetic Types & Functions – Introductory Lecture
- Fundamentals of Geosynthetics for Soil Reinforcement – Introductory Lecture
- Geosynthetics in Roadway Applications – Introductory Lecture
- Geosynthetics in Hydraulics – Introductory Lecture
- TOUR: TRI Environmental testing laboratory
- EDUCATION TOPIC: Overview of Geosynthetic Testing
- Networking Drinks Reception at Event Hotel
Program for February 21
- Geosynthetics in Slopes & Walls – Advanced Lecture
- Geosynthetics in Road Base Stabilization – Advanced Lecture
- Geosynthetics in Waste + Water Containment – Advanced Lecture
- TOUR: Geofabrics manufacturing facility
- Program Close
Additionally, attending lecturers receive not just instruction and course materials but continued access to the event instructors as they develop their own programs at both the UNDERGRADUATE and GRADUATE levels.
AUS/NZ LECTURERS: APPLY TODAY!
ACIGS invites applications from Australia and New Zealand-based civil engineering lecturers. Complete the form at the bottom of the page here and upload your C.V. Please provide information about the courses you teach and provide a short description identifying how you would incorporate the information from EtE into your curriculum.
See the full program here
Learn more about the International Geosynthetics Society and the Australian Chapter of IGS
