Honorary Members

IGS Honorary Members

IGS Honorary Membership is an award given to a person who has made a vast and long-term commitment to the Society and its aims. This award is bestowed by the IGS Council to a limited number of persons on the basis of distinguished position, scientific achievement, outstanding service to the Society, or major contributions to the promotion of geosynthetics and their applications.

Name	Country	Year Awarded
Prof. Masami Fukuoka*	Japan	1989
Mr. Gert den Hoedt*	The Netherlands	1994
Dr. J.P. Giroud	France	2002
Dr. R. K. Rowe	Canada	2006
Dr. Robert Koerner*	USA	2008
Mr. Peter E. Stevenson*	USA	2010
Dr. Ennio Marques Palmeira	Brazil	2012
Dr. Ing. Daniele Cazzuffi	Italy	2014
Prof. Fumio Tatsuoka	Japan	2014
Dr. Ian Peggs	USA	2018

*deceased

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Membership in the IGS is a valuable investment for anyone interested in the engineering and geosynthetics industry.

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Ivan P. Damians

(Spain)

Dr. Ivan P. Damians is an Associate Researcher Professor at the International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE®). He serves as a Geotechnical Engineer responsible for Research and Development (R&D) of the VSoL System at VSL International Ltd, which is part of the Bouygues Construction Group. Additionally, he works as an Assistant Professor at the School of Civil Engineering (ETSECCPB) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya·BarcelonaTech (UPC), teaching courses in Soil Mechanics, Geotechnical Engineering, Geotechnical Projects and Constructions, and Life-Cycle Analysis and Sustainability Assessment for both Bachelor’s and Master’s programs in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Dr. Damians actively participates in various research projects funded by national and international programs, as well as industry-sponsored initiatives. He is a member of technical committees and professional societies including:

CTN-UNE 140/SC 7, developing standards like EN 1997-3 (Eurocode 7) and 104 (Geosynthetics)
TC218 Reinforced Fill Structures and TC307 Sustainability in Geotechnical Engineering of the ISSMGE
International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) and the Sociedad Española de Mecánica de Suelos e Ingeniería Geotécnica (SEMSIG)
Current Secretary of TC-Soil Reinforcement at the IGS.

Dr. Damians is the author of several publications and an active reviewer of international journals in the sectors of soil reinforcement, geosynthetics, sustainability, numerical methods, and behavior of clays as a long-term insulation material for nuclear waste disposal facilities. Moreover, he supervises Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD theses in Geosynthetics at CIMNE/UPC·BarcelonaTech.

Links to online profile & publications:
https://www.cimne.com/sgp/dir/Profile.aspx?id=546
https://futur.upc.edu/IvanPuigDamians
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EbP-6ZYAAAAJ&hl=en
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0333-7296

Jabulile Msiza

(South Africa)

Over the past two years, I’ve had the honour of serving on the IGS Council alongside some brilliant fellow members whom I now regard as colleagues. Although all my activity has been rewarding, the following particularly standout – serving as vice chair of the Technical Committee on Barriers and Representing Africa and the Middle East as their Regional Activity Chair, particularly at a time GeoAfrica (Cairo) was held and the first named lecture series was announced.

I’m a Civil Engineer, Professionally registered, and specializing in Waste Engineering as a Consultant of the company Jones & Wagener Engineering and Environmental Consultants (J&W). I’m the Head of Department of a dynamic team of engineers, technologists and draughts persons servicing waste management facilities across South Africa and other African regions; I’m also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of J&W.

With over 18 years’ working experience, I’m passionate about design for environmental protection, particularly for waste management facilities, construction of barrier and capping systems, and promoting the understanding and appropriate use of geosynthetic materials. It is a humbling industry in that while many advancements have happened in the past few years, there’s still much to learn as installed systems are tested with time and various exposure conditions.

I’m a member of the Associations: South African Institute of Civil Engineers (SAICE), Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) Board Member, the South African Chapter of the IGS and the Institute of Waste Management of South Africa. I have been an elected council member of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) for the past four years and eager to continue serving in the future.

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Latest News

Strengthen Your Diversity Strategy At GeoAmericas Lunch

Reducing CO2 emissions at Ostend Airport with geotextiles

Registration Open For Barcelona Technical Workshop

IGS Foundation Welcomes New Board Members

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Yoshihisa Miyata

(Japan)

Huabei Liu

(China)

G L Sivakumar Babu

(India)

Dylan Armour

(Canada)

Fernando H. M. Portelinha

(Brazil)

Francisco Pizarro

(Chile)

Gary Ng

(Hong Kong)

Giulia Lugli

(Italy)

Ioannis Markou

(Greece)

Wang Deqi

(China)

Ivan P. Damians

(Spain)

Jabulile Msiza

(South Africa)

Jacek Kawalec

(Poland)

Kasia Ria Zamara

(United Kingdom)

Maria das Graças A. Gardoni

(Brazil)

Song-Hun Chong

(Korea)

Timothy D. Stark

(United States of America)