MONTREAL - Dr. Jean-Pierre Giroud, a key figure in the development of the geosynthetics, and notably geotextiles, industry, will attend Expo Hightex on 7 October 2009, at Montreal's Bonsecours Market. In the morning, Dr. Giroud will explain the innovation processes responsible for creating this market segment, along with the mechanisms the textile industry has developed to meet the needs of civil engineering, and in the afternoon of the same day, he will speak on geosynthetics' applications in road construction. Geosynthetics today generate billions of dollars annually and offer new possibilities for development, particularly in the textile industry.

Dr. Giroud's activities are an important part of a day of seminars dedicated to geosynthetics. Expo Hightex will welcome various local and international experts from the private and public sectors who will address such topics as approval and regulations for geosynthetic products, and the commercial opportunities the latter offer.

Dr. Jean-Pierre Giroud, ECP engineer, Doctor of Science, Doctor Honoris Causa from the Technical University of Bucharest, member of the National Academy of Engineering (USA), and one-time professor of geotechnics, is a consulting engineer in the U.S., and honorary president and founder of Geosyntec Consultants, a major engineering consulting firm. Dr. Giroud is the president of the editorial committee of Geosynthetics International, and past president of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS). He also carried out two mandates as president of the technical committee on geosynthetics in the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). In 1977, he became the first person to use the terms "geotextile" and "geomembrane." He has also authored 360 publications.