This project will support the travel of young and established researchers to participate in an international workshop on Structural Control and Monitoring in Dalian, China, June 5-6, 2008. The US researchers will interact with international researchers who are working in the area of smart structures technology to formulate future research directions in the area of structural control and structural health monitoring. The workshop participants will develop the engineering details of an international experimental benchmark problem that can be used by the US and other international scientists at the National Center for Research in Earthquake Engineering in Taiwan. When completed, this experimental benchmark problem will be used to evaluate the applicability of various control methods and structural health monitoring schemes that are being studied by the research community for implementation on building structures. This will provide a common platform and quantitative framework to test and validate different control and monitoring concepts in a realistic practical setting. This will immensely facilitate the transfer of research results to practice, which is expected to improve the safety and performance of building structures subjected to dynamic forces. The proposed participation by young researchers in the workshop will also help in advancing their research and professional careers, and promote international exchange and collaboration activities.
