Report of Planned Activities Subcommittee on Emerging Computing Technology Analysis and Computation TAC ASCE Structural Division 1993 Strustures Congress Irvine, California April 18, 1993 Analysis and Computation TAC Meeting 1:30 PM - 7:30 PM 1. Status Reports: 1.a. 1994 Structures Congress Session Garrett presented the letter that he had sent to Cheng (chair of A&C TAC) on January 19, 1993 describing the 1994 Structures Congress Session. He then passed around a set of the six abstracts submitted as part of this letter to Cheng. It was Garrett's understanding that this was the final form of the session and that all was in order. Baker than stated that he had received a letter (that Garrett did not receive) in which Franklin Cheng had modified the conference session as follows: Title: Emerging Computing Technology and Infrastructure Systems Co-Chairs: Cheng and Garrett Speakers: 1. S. J. Fenves Recent Advances in Engineering Design Methodology (referred to as a theme paper) 2. S.C. Liu and Civil Infrastructure Systems - NSF Research K. Chong Program (referred to as a theme paper) 3. J. Ghaboussi Potential Applications of Neural Networks in Structural Engineering 4. N. Baker Multimedia Applications for Structural Engineering 5. G. Lee and A General Structural Representation of Neural M. Elkordy Neural Networks The two speakers (Wilson and Hendricks) were placed in other sessions. Wislon went to Session 8: Structural Control and Fatigue Analysis. Hendricks went to Session 6: Integrated Computer-Aided Structural Engineering Software. Discussion: While the subcommittee was concerned that these changes were made without consulting the subcommittee chair, it was felt that the addition of the Liu/Chong paper was a good addition to the session and the sessions in which the Wison and Hendricks papers were placed were better fits for those papers. Thus, the new form of the session was accepted by the subcommittee. Another issue concerning the 1994 Structures Congress was the poster session that Kim Roddis was trying to organize. Garrett will contact Kim to determine the status of that poster session and encourage her to pursue it if it is still possible. Nelson Baker stated that it still might be possible and will know by April 18. The sticking point might be if the Congress organizers require abstracts in the Proceedings. Garrett, Baker and Roddis will pursue this issue and resolve it before the June 8, 1993 meeting in Anaheim. Another opportunity to pursue is an "open house" at the Georgia Tech Computing facilities in which different software projects might be demonstrated. Baker will check on this possibility and report via email to the ECT membership concerning this opportunity. 1.b. Special Issue of the Journal of Computing in CE Garrett gave a report on the state of the Special Issue on Neural Networks for the Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering that he is editing. This special issue is being edited as a jointly sponsored effort with the TCCP AI and Expert Systems Committee (of which Garrett is also a member). The special issue was reported to be on schedule and going well. Garrett reported that he has received 9 papers that are in various stages of the review process: 1 paper has been declined and resubmitted and it out for review. 1 paper has been declined and has not yet been resubmitted 4 papers have been tentatively accepted (2 w/ rereview, 2 wo/ rereview) 3 papers are still out for review. Garrett also reported knowledge of three papers being sent to ASCE but has not yet received them from New York (the authors sent him a copy of their papers). Thus, the target publishing date of early 1994 advertised in the call appears to still be achievable. 1.c. 1993 contribution to the Research Needs Session at the 1993 Structures Congress organized by Richard N. Wright. Garrett reported that in response to the ECT's response to the Research Needs Session proposals that Law requested from all AC subcommittees, Garrett was contacted by Emil Simiu at NIST to put together a joint contribution on "Standards Representation and Processing." Garrett reported that he will make a 10 minute presentation at the Research Needs Session at the 1993 Structures Congress (Monday, April 19, 1:30PM) on behalf of the committee. 2. Have developed a Mission Statement 3. Workshop/Session proposals: 3.a. 1994 Structures Congress Garrett proposed a workshop on neural Networks for the 1994 Structures Congress. Those in attendence at the meeting felt that this would be a good workshop. Ghaboussi suggested that the workshop be modified to have only a 1/2 hour introduction, followed by a 2 hour session in which several applications are presented in a "case-based" mode, followed by a 1 hour discussion of the applications presented and the potential of new applications. Ghaboussi also agreed to participate in this workshop with Garrett. Baker asked how much we should charge per person for this workshop. The members suggested that a $125 fee would not be excessive and would make the workshop attractive to ASCE. A modified version of this workshop proposal was given to Baker to present to the 1994 Structures Congress Organizing Committee on April 18, 1993. A copy of this modified proposal is attached to these minutes. 3.b. 1995 Structures Congress (session proposals due 6/15/93) This item refers to the action plan of the mission statement attached to these minutes and briefly discussed in section 5. Melhem agreed to organize a conference session on "Fuzzy Logic Applications in Structural Engineering" for the 1995 Structures Congress. Lakmazehari, Roddis and Chen are putting together a workshop on "Logic Programming" also for the 1995 Structures Congress. They will put together their proposal before the June 8 meeting in Anaheim. This was shown incorrectly on previous drafts of the mission statement and action plan. Garrett commited to organizing a workshop on Virtual Reality for the 1995 Structures Congress (if the ASCE organizing committee for 1995 will permit them). Garrett will contact Emil Troupe to determine the possibilities for workshops at the 1995 Structures Congress. 4. Monograph Garrett reported that he will lead the ECT participation in a joint effort with the TCCP AI and Expert Systems Committee to develop a monograph on Neural Networks in Civil Engineering. The tentative schedule is to have a first draft by June 1994 and have a completed monograph by June 1995. My co-editor will be Nabil Kartam from the AIES Committee.