Meet the Invited Speakers!
Vladimir Ignatev
GEODEVICE Inc, Canada
Vladimir is the Head of GEODEVICE Inc, Canada and the Co-founder of GEODEVICE brand. The company specializes in geophysical equipment development, manufacturing and supply to customers around the World. In past Vladimir was the Head of Software Development office in GEODEVICE LLC, Head of geophysical equipment production in GEOLOGORAZVEDKA JSC and before that Head of field surveys office in GeophysPoisk LLC. Having worked in different areas of geophysics helped Mr. Ignatev gain enough knowledge to understand the needs on geologists and geophysicists. All his experience he puts towards the development of state-of-the-art equipment and software for near surface geophysical surveying.
Vladimir has Master’s degree both in Physics and Geology giving him enough expertise to use blended approach when finding the best solution in complex geophysical tasks. His contribution to development of geophysical equipment, software and overall methodology cannot be underestimated.
Michael Schmitz
Michael holds a Bachelor's Degree in Geology (1987) and a Ph.D. in Geophysics (1993) from the Free University of Berlin, Germany, where he focused on lithospheric research in the Central Andes. His career includes research at the Free University of Berlin (1993-1997) and a long tenure at FUNVISIS (1997-2023), where he specialized in seismic microzonation and lithospheric studies, particularly the Caribbean-South America interaction and the Andes of Mérida. Since February 2023, he has served as a scientific advisor at FUNVISIS.
In addition to his research, he has been a Full Professor at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) since 2002 and at Simón Bolívar University (USB) since 2007, teaching Seismology and Geophysics. His teaching experience extends to Ecuador, where he lectured at the National Polytechnic School (EPN) and Yachay Tech. He has contributed to over 90 publications and presented at more than 400 conferences. His recent roles include serving on the Infrastructure Commission of the National Academy of Engineering and Habitat and managing Geosciences at Perfoca from May 2023 to April 2024.
Diego Ruiz Aguilar
Diego Ruiz Aguilar holds a bachelor’s degree in Geophysical Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a master’s degree in Geophysics from theUniversity of Barcelona, Spain. He worked a couple of years on the industry mainly applying electromagnetic induction methods for mineral and geothermal exploration.
Afterwards, he worked at the Institute of Geophysics of UNAM (Mexico) as technician on different academic projects. In 2018, he received a Doctor rerum naturalium degree by the University of Cologne, in Germany. Since November, 2018, he has been a Researcher at the Applied GeophysicsDepartment of the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education at Ensenada (CICESE), in Baja California, Mexico. His research has focused on electromagnetic induction methods, hydrogeophysics, geothermal and mineral exploration. In 2022, he was awarded with a HIDA-Helmholtz fellowship for a research stay at GEOMAR- Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, in Kiel, Germany. Right now, he also is the head of the Postgraduate School in Earth Sciences of CICESE.
Franck A. Audemard M.
Franck A. Audemard M. is a Venezuelan geological engineer who graduated from the Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) in 1984. He obtained his master's and doctorate in tectonics from the Université de Montpellier II in France in 1989 and 1993, respectively. Since 1995, he has been a tenured professor at the UCV School of Geology, Mines, and Geophysics, where he created the “Active Fault Engineering” course for postgraduate studies. After retiring as a researcher in early 2020, he became an advisor for FUNVISIS, where he worked for 34 years, including 12 years as head of the Department of Earth Sciences.
Audemard has dedicated 40 years to studying the active tectonics of Venezuela and the geodynamics of the southern Caribbean margin, with a focus on seismic mapping, paleoseismic evaluation, and earthquake-related phenomena. He has collaborated on scientific projects with numerous countries and published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, with an H Index of 38 and an I10 Index of 102. He has supervised many scientific projects and theses and held leadership roles in international geological organizations. Currently, he serves as the Regional Editor for Venezuela of the Journal of South American Earth Sciences, a Corresponding Member of the Asociación Geológica Argentina (AGA), and an Adjunct Researcher at CICESE in Mexico.