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The JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) 157th Committee on Structural Response Control hosted and organized the Fourth International Workshop on Advanced Smart Materials and Smart Structures Technology (ANCRiSST 2008) held at Waseda University International Conference Hall during 24-25 June 2008 with the financial support of the JSPS. The ANCRiSST is the abbreviation of the Asia-Pacific Network of Centers for Research in Smart Structures Technologies. This consortium of research centers was established in the year of 2002. Currently, the ANCRiSST consists of 16 world-wide research institutions including the 157th Committee. Many of these member institutions have been playing the leading roles on the stage of structural control and health monitoring reseach.
The purpose of the Workshop is to assess the current progress of smart materials and structures technology and to develop synergies among research projects that cannot be easily carried out by the individual centers. In addition, focus will be placed on the integration of reserch and education: (1) to better educate the next generation of engineers toward maximizing advantages offerd by smart atructures technology; and (2) to provide continued professional development for practicing engineers. More than fifty researchers participated the Workshop from USA, Korea, China and Japan, etc. Among the foreign participants were Professor B.F. Spencer, Jr. (UIUC, USA), Professor C.-B. Yun (KAIST, Korea), Professor J.N. Yang (UC Irvine, USA), Professor F. Gordaninejad (U. Nevada, Reno), Professor M.L. Wang (UI Chicago at the time of June 2008), Professor K. Law (Stanford U.) and Dr. S.C. Liu (NSF, USA, Advisor of ANCRiSST).
The world's first active-controlled buildings was constructed in Tokyo, Japan in 1989. Inspired by the birth of this controlled building, many reserach and practicing engineers all over the world have been trying to integrate a variety of advanced and modern technologies into civil engineering structures. As a result, response control and diagnosis of health-condition in the civil engineering field based upon control, sensing and information technologies have been recognized as really practical technologies to hence the safety of the structures as well as to alter the conventional image of the structures. In this decade, such technologies have been often referred to "smart structures technology" or "smart structurs technologies." With such a technology, civil structures expectedly could behave autonomously to reduce the response during seismic or strong-wind event, or could autonomously diagnose their health condition based on daily health monitoring and monitoring during and soon after an earthquake. The importance and significance of these technologies are quite clear, for instance, when recalling the recent report of the sudden collapse of a huge bridge in USA.
In the Workshop, two highly-acclaimed reserachers delivered keynote speeches. In the morning of the first day, following the opening ceremony, Professor B. F. Spencer, the current president of ANCRiSST, talked to the participants about "Model-based real-time hybrid testing: Application to semi-actively controlled structures." Another keynote speeker, in the second day morning was Professor I. Ohdomari, Director of Waseda University Nano Technology Institute. The title of his presentaion was "Our trial to apply nanotechnology to structural health monitoring."
The themes and topics discussed in the parallel sessions were as follows:
- Piezoelectric sensors and actuators
- Optical and camera based sensors
- Sensing methodologiy
- Structural health monitoring application
- Structural health monitoring
- Structural health monitoring algorithm
- Structural health monitoring for concrete structures
- Control and identification of dampers
- Wireless sensors
- Control
- Signal processing/diagnosis
In addition to the above program of the workshop, two themes were widely discussed by all the participants. They were how an education program for smart structures technology should be and what common test beds for health monitoring cooperative reserach should be like. When it comes to the education program, there is no specific school or institution which provides students with any comprehensive lecture and excercise program for smart structures technology, although many institutions have felt the necessity of such educationprogram.
Through the discussions at the Workshop, the 157th Committee have been greatly inspired in many ways.The Committee will reflect the result of fruitfull discussions made at the Workshop on the research activities at the oncoming stage.
In closing this report, one thing is added. As above-mentioned, the education program was discussed in the Workshop. This discussion was reflected to the lecture and excercise program for the First Asia-Pacific Summer School for Smart Structures Technology, which was held at KAIST, Korea in July-August 2008 soon after the workshop. The 157th Committee partially supported those students who attended this summer school from Japan. Nishitani joined the Summer School as one of the lectulers.
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