6072 N. Ocean Blvd. Ocean Ridge, FL 33435
TEL: 561 369 0795
FAX: 561 369 0895
CELL: 561 809 3444
icorp@geosynthetic.com

IAN D. PEGGS

geosynthetic materials science
failure and forensic analyses
construction quality assurance (CQA)
nondestructive testing
risk assessment

SUMMARY
Over twenty five years experience in polymer, geosynthetics, and composite research
Geosynthetics Consultant and Instructor
Previously President and co-Founder of GeoSyntec, Inc., USA (now GeoSyntec Consultants)
Former Vice-President and Principal of GeoServices, Inc. (now GeoSyntec Consultants)
Former Manager of Polymer Engineering, Hanson Materials Engineering (now CANSPEC), Canada
Active in international standards development and geosynthetics education
Performed more than 200 liner leak integrity surveys and failure analyses on lining systems
Author of more than 200 papers and presentations on geosynthetics
Registered Professional Engineer: Alberta, Canada
Registered Professional Engineer: Maine, USA
Special Recognition IGS Award 1994
Nominated for IGS Award 1998
Awarded composite liner patents 1998

EDUCATION
Sheffield University, UK: Ph.D., Physical Metallurgy 1967
Imperial College of Science & Technology, London University: B.Sc. (Eng.), First Class, Honors Fabrication Metallurgy, 1963

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
March 1991 - present
I-CORP INTERNATIONAL, Inc., President, Principal, Ocean Ridge, Florida, USA

1986 - 1991
GeoSyntec, Inc., (President) and GeoServices Inc./GeoSyntec Consultants (Principal, Vice-President, and Manager, Materials Testing Laboratory), Florida, USA

1985 - 1986
Geosyntech Ltd., Director, Joint Venture between Hanson Materials Engineering and EBA
Engineering, Alberta, Canada

1981 - 1986
Hanson Materials Engineering, Manager, Polymer Engineering Division, Alberta, Canada

1967 - 1979
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment, Head,
Thermophysical Properties Laboratory, Manitoba, Canada

ACHIEVEMENTS
Introduced geomembrane CQA to Canada in 1983;

Introduced transmission microscopy microstructural analysis to geosynthetics;

Identified stress cracking phenomenon in HDPE geomembranes;

Developed advanced geomembrane seam specifications, published in 1987;

Introduced infrared thermography for the nondestructive measurement of geomembrane seam strength, 1994;

Awarded IGS Award (1994) for contributions to the Influence of Polymer Microstructure on the Performance of Geomembranes. Nominated for IGS Award of Excellence (1998) for paper “HDPE Geosynthetics – Premature Failures and Their Prediction”;

Awarded United States Patent 5,788,413 for Geocomposite Membrane (1998);

Initiated www.geosynthetica.net industry web site (1999); and,

Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Engineering and Technology (2000).

EXPERIENCE
Dr. Peggs has been involved with the failure analysis, research and development, and testing of polymeric materials in bulk, composite, and coating form since 1977. He has had extensive experience with all geosynthetics since 1981 and has specific interest in the nondestructive examination, microstructure, and performance of geomembrane seams. He initiated the use of the multifrequency ultrasonic shadow technique for nondestructive seam inspection and has developed microtome techniques for the microstructural examination of seams. He has been involved with the preparation and management of construction quality assurance programs for geomembrane-lined impoundments and landfills in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Africa and SE Asia. Dr. Peggs has also been involved in failure analyses for many clients throughout North America, Europe and Australia on high-strength geotextile seams, geotextiles, geomembranes, geomembrane seams, plastic pipe, and fiberglass components. He is presently developing infrared thermography technology as the first technique for the nondestructive measurement of geomembrane seam bond strength.

He has performed survivability and durability studies on geomembranes and geotextiles and is Past-Convener of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) TC38/SC 21 Working Group on the Durability of Geotextiles. He is also past-chairman of the RILEM (TC-144-GMP) Technical Committee on Geomembranes.

He has presented more than 200 papers, seminars, and workshops on geosynthetics for manufacturers, installers, and users of geosynthetics.

Dr. Peggs became involved with the investigation, development, and testing of non-metallic materials, including polymers, during the time that he headed Atomic Energy of Canada's Thermophysical Properties Lab in its Materials Development Branch beginning in 1967.

In 1981, Dr. Peggs became involved with geosynthetics when he initiated and managed the Polymer Engineering Division of Hanson Materials Engineering (now Canspec), a large materials consulting company in Alberta, Canada. His work there in failure analysis, consulting, specifications development, research and development, and quality assurance for geosynthetic lining systems, plastic pipe, and other polymeric materials led to a joint venture between Hanson Materials Engineering and EBA Engineering. Dr. Peggs then became director of the joint venture, GeoSyntech Ltd., which provided specialized geosynthetics consulting and testing services to clients throughout Canada and the United States.

In 1986, Dr. Peggs joined with Joseph E. Fluet, Jr. and J.P. Giroud of GeoServices, Inc. Consulting Engineers (now GeoSyntec Consultants) to establish GeoSyntec, Inc., a geosynthetics testing laboratory in Boynton Beach, Florida. This laboratory became one of the foremost, and most comprehensive, geosynthetics testing laboratories in the world, with clients throughout North America and in 13 countries around the world.

In 1991, Dr. Peggs formed his own geosynthetic materials performance consulting company, I-CORP INTERNATIONAL, which performs state-of-the-art international geosynthetics technology development, and teaches others how to perform state-of-practice projects in over 25 countries. The Industry Insight newsletter, with subscribers in 32 countries, was initiated in 1994. The newsletter was superceded by the www.geosynthetica.net technical resource web site sponsored by the geosynthetics industry. The site is visited by about 750,000 engineers each year.

Typical projects that Dr. Peggs has managed include failure analyses of geomembrane liners, geosynthetic clay liners, and plastic pipes; stress cracking and microstructure investigations of geomembrane seams; curing and microstructure investigations of fiberglass laminates; aging and degradation studies of polypropylene geotextiles; leak surveys on geomembranes under soil and waste cover; interface friction and surface texture/profile studies; failures in HDPE sheet liners on concrete walls; developing a manufacturing and fabrication QC program for PP geomembranes; and investigation of rapid crack propagation in HDPE geomembranes and more recently PP liners and floating covers. These projects have been conducted on liners in ponds, vaults, and landfills; covers; seams; and filters, for a variety of clients that include many utilities, international corporations, engineering consulting firms, hazardous waste firms, geomembrane manufacturers and installers, oil companies, metals companies, marine surveyors, contractors, municipalities, insurance companies, and lawyers.

In 1996 Dr. Peggs applied for patents on a geocomposite membrane GCL. United States Patent 5,788,413 for Geocomposite Membrane was awarded in 1998 – others followed. Dr. Peggs also organized the First US/Germany Geomembrane Workshop in Berlin.

AFFILIATIONS AND COMMITTEE WORK
Dr. Peggs has been heavily involved in committee work relating to the geosynthetics industry and organizations committed to education and development of testing standards, such as:

International Geosynthetics Society