IGIC 2025
Strategic Partners
Standards Partner
Publishing Partner
Academia Partners
IGIC 2025 Event Overview
As the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia continues to lead one of the world’s most ambitious construction booms, the 2nd Annual International Geotechnical Innovation Conference (IGIC 2025) emerged as a key enabler of the region’s drive for engineering excellence. Held from 5–6 May 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, IGIC 2025 brought together over 500 delegates and more than 40 industry-leading speakers for two days of impactful dialogue and innovation.
IGIC 2025 was designed to support Saudi Arabia’s and the broader Middle East’s vision for transformative growth, anchored by giga-projects, megacities, high-rise buildings, integrated transport systems, underground structures, and land reclamation developments such as man-made islands. The conference addressed the critical role of geotechnical engineering in ensuring the safety, cost-efficiency, and sustainability of these infrastructure projects.
As the region’s premier geotechnical engineering platform, IGIC 2025 delivered a dynamic program including two intensive workshops, ten keynote addresses, and more than ten technical sessions.
Event in Numbers
Conference Themes
Innovative Soil Improvement and Foundation Solutions
Automation and Digital Twinning in Geotechnics
Remote Sensing and Monitoring in Geotechnical Engineering
Artificial Intelligence in Geotechnics
Sustainability in Geotechnical Engineering
Geotechnical Industry 4.0 & Future Trends
Training, Education, and International Collaboration
Technical Advisory Committee
Conference Chairman
Dr. Marwan Alzaylaie
Senior Manager
Geotechnical Engineering, Dubai
Development Authority, U.A.E.
Conference Advisor
Prof. Dr. Robert Liang
Professor and Department Chair
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
University of Dayton, U.S.A.
Conference Advisor
Prof. Dr. Jie Han
Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Department
The University of Kansas, U.S.A.
Conference Advisor
Prof. Deepankar Choudhury
Prof. T. Kant Chair Professor
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India
Vice-Chair - Conference Program
Hamzah M. B. Al-Hashemi
CEO & Technical Director, GeoStruXer, Adjunct Faculty
American University of Bahrain, Bahrain
Vice-Chair– Publishing & Academic Affairs
Dr. Saeed Alzahrani
Assistant Professor
Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
Industry Advisor
Prof. Saad Aiban
Founder and General Manager
Maeen Engineering Consultancy; Professor CEE
KFUPM, Saudi Arabia
Industry Advisor
Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Alnuaim
Founder and General Manager
Maeen Engineering Consultancy; Professor CEE
KFUPM, Saudi Arabia
Industry Advisor
Karim Khalaf
Regional Business Line Manager
Fugro, U.A.E.
Industry Advisor
Dr. Ahmed Stifi
Managing Director
Acumen Consulting, Germany
Industry Advisor
Dr. Ghassan Sutaih
Professor of Geotechnical Engineering
King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia
Industry Advisor
Dr. Nuha Jamal Mohamed Al Zayani
Chairperson, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering
University of Bahrain, Bahrain
Industry Advisor
Dr. Zaid Alajlan
Assistant Professor
Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia
Industry Advisor
Danah Shafaqah Al-Enezi
Research Associate
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait
Opening Remarks
Eng. Abdullah Al-Shamrani
Chairman – European Chapter
Deep Foundation Institute (DFI), Belgium
Dr. Maurice Bottiau
Chairman – European Chapter
Deep Foundation Institute (DFI), Belgium
Marc Ballouz
President
International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), USA
Prof. Dr. Ömer Bilgin
Professor
University of Dayton, USA
Keynote Speakers
Prof. Dr. Jie Han
Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Department
The University of Kansas, U.S.A.
Prof. Dr. Lyesse Laloui
Full Professor
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Switzerland
Prof. Dr. Ömer Bilgin
Professor
University of Dayton, USA
Karim Khalaf
Regional Business Line Manager
Fugro, UAE
Dr. Jamal Nusairat
Geotechnical Group Manager
E L Robinson Engineering, USA
Prof. Dr. Mourad Zeghal
Professor of Civil Engineering
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), USA
Prof. Dr. -Ing Rolf Katzenbach
Founder and General Manager
Maeen Engineering Consultancy; Professor CEE
KFUPM, Saudi Arabia
Dr. Marc Ballouz
President
International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), USA
