The Society's first geosynthetics club for university undergraduates has announced an exciting timetable for its launch term.

Founded earlier this year, the International Geosynthetics Society at California State University, Long Beach (IGS at CSULB), aims to place geosynthetics at the heart of student learning outside a classroom setting, as well as inspiring careers in the industry.

Students take the lead in devising sessions which may include guest speakers, field trips and social and networking events. The club is free to join but members must also be an IGS Student Member, which is also free.

As well as bi-weekly general meetings and occasional social get-togethers, CSULB's first term of activities began with 10-minute student-led sessions on 'Intro to Geosynthetics' for Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering students in September.

Further events are set to include:

October

• Geosynthetics field trip to Puente Hills landfill
• 10-minute student-led sessions on 'Intro to Geosynthetics'
• Workshop -'Intro to Geosynthetics and its applications'
• Geosynthetics Seminar Series Guest Speaker – IGS President Samuel Allen

November

• 10-minute student-led sessions on 'Intro to Geosynthetics'
• Geosynthetics Seminar Series Guest Speaker

December

• Geosynthetics Seminar Series Guest Speaker

IGS at CSULB board members are:

Odalys Portillo – President
Anthony Flores Saguin – Vice President
Emiliano Conteras – Public Relations
Odalis Cruz – Secretary
Rica Lorraine Nunag – Treasurer
Luan Bui – Event Planner
James Robles – Social Media

The IGS Student Club initiative was conceived by IGS member Amr Morsy, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering Management at CSULB, who hopes the idea is adopted elsewhere. The scheme is supported by IGS International and not a particular Chapter, so can be implemented on any campus inside or outside the US.

Watch this space for updates on IGS at CSULB. If you are interested in setting up your own IGS Student Club, email IGS Executive Director John Kraus at John.Kraus@geosyntheticssociety.org for more information.