This award supports the participation of American scientists in a U.S.-Japan joint seminar on network and center-based research for earthquake engineering and smart structures technologies to be held in Osaka, Japan from July 6-9, 2004. The co-organizers are Professor Mahendra Singh at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg and Professor Eizaburo Tachibana at Osaka University in Japan. Significant advances have been made in the disciplinary area of earthquake engineering and also in the area of sensors and sensor-based systems. The main thrust of new research is to develop infrastructure systems that are smart and predictable, can adapt to changes, can protect itself from environmental and societal threats, can self diagnose and heal, and is proactive. In achieving these objectives sensing systems play a central role. Many new consortia of research centers have been created to facilitate collaborative research and exchange activities among the premier research centers worldwide working in the area of earthquake engineering and smart technologies. In addition, a new Internet-based network system called NEES (Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation) consisting of networked hardware testing facilities and enabling tele-operating systems with software, has been recently established to create a "shared-use and geographically-distributed experimental laboratory" to facilitate and promote innovative research activities in earthquake engineering in the U.S. The meeting will bring together scientists, engineers, computer scientists, materials and device experts from diverse fields and disciplines working on these new frontier research areas. The goals of the meeting are to: 1) provide a much needed new track to accelerate center-to-center based research activities on new frontiers of sensor-based smart structure technologies; 2) expand and energize the interface which overlaps discipline-based research in earthquake engineering and research in sensor-based smart structures; 3) cultivate, promote and nurture collaborative and exchange research activities between US and Japan -- two leading countries in earthquake engineering and advanced technology and 4) expose US students and young scientists to social, technical, and cultural values in Japan.
The co-organizers have complementary scientific expertise in the field. This enables them to evaluate and attract the best science and engineering researchers to participate. These new developments will revolutionize how civil and mechanical structural systems are built and maintained in the future and will impact the areas of structural dynamics, earthquake engineering, sensor systems, signal processing system identification, fiber optics, wireless technology, and smart systems. The seminar organizers have made a special effort to involve postdocs and graduate students as both participants and observers. The exchange of ideas and data with Japanese experts in the field will enable U.S. participants to advance their own work, and will set the stage for future collaborative projects. Following the seminar the organizers plan to establish a workshop web page. Conference proceedings will be published on this web site.
