STRUCTURAL DIVISION, ASCE

Report on Activities FY98
Report on Plans FY99

Committee on:	Emerging Computing Technology
TAC:		Analysis and Computation

Submitted by:	John W. Baugh Jr., Chair
Date:           1 April 1998

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I. Administration

   A. Membership (number of committee members):  10 members
						 2  nonmember advisors
   B. Meetings:

      1.  Meetings held during FY98:

            -  July 20, 1998, San Francisco (SEWC)

      2.  Meetings planned for FY 99 (date, location)

            -  April 1999, New Orleans, LA (Structures Congress)

   C. Subcommittee and Task Committees (reporting to this committee):

          None


II.   Papers in FY97  (10/96 - 9/97)  Journal of Structural Engineering

   A. Number of papers reviewed for Journal: 0 as committee activity

   B. Number of Papers published in Journal: 0 as committee activity

III.  Publications (Special Publications, Manuals, other)

   A. Publications completed during FY98  (10/97 - 10/98) (title,
      where and when published)

      none

   B. Publications in preparation (title, expected completion date)

      - WWW Structural Engineering Information Repository

        The committee is building a Web-based information repository
	site for ASCE.  Expected topics include: access to reference
	materials, links to sites of interest, and forums for
	practicing structural engineers to exchange information.  As a
	first pass, the committee is creating a site that points to
	other sites that address some of these goals.

	Phase I Completion Date: July 1998

   C. Publications planned for the future (topic, expected starting date)

      - WWW Structural Engineering Information Repository (Phase II)

      - An ASCE on-line monograph is planned for the year 1999.  The
	committee expects that the SEIR activity would result in a
	preliminary version of an on-line monograph.  Because such an
	activity is unprecedented in the ASCE organization, approval,
	review processes, and publication details must be worked out.

IV.   Technical Sessions (ASCE Annual Convention, Structures
      Congresses, Specialty Conferences, other meetings)

   A. Sessions held during FY98 (10/97 - 9/98)

      - Technical Session in SEWC
        Conceptual Structural Design / Computational Models
        Jim Garrett, Carnegie Mellon University
        D. Grierson
        R. Balling

      - Technical Session in SEWC
        Data Management/Evaluation/Interpretation Applications
          for Structural Engineering
        Stu Chen, SUNY Buffalo

      - Technical Session in SEWC
        Product Modelling for Structural Engineers
        Meg Neggers, The Premisys Corporation
	Kincho Law, Stanford University
	Jim Garrett, Carnegie Mellon University

      - Technical Session in SEWC
        Advanced Application of Web Technology in Structural Engineering
	George Turkiyyah, University of Washington
	Kincho Law, Stanford University

   B. Sessions Planned for FY99 (10/98 - 9/99)

      - Technical Session in 1999 Structures Congress
        April 1999, New Orleans, LA
	"Advanced Applications of Web Technology in Structural Engineering"
	George Turkiyyah, University of Washington
	Jim Garrett, Carnegie Mellon University

      - Technical Session in 1999 Structures Congress
        April 1999, New Orleans, LA
	"Advanced Technologies in Conceptual Design"
	Colby Swan, University of Iowa
	Co-sponsored with Optimal Structural Design (OSD)

   C. Sessions Planned for the Future:

      - Sessions and workshops are being planned for the
        2000 Structures Congress

V. Other activities (type of activities, action completed or planned)

   A. Completed during FY98 (10/97 - 10/98)

      - We have a World Wide Web page that describes the mission of
        the committee and its associated activities.

	The URL for this page is:
        http://www.ce.cmu.edu/~garrett/ect/

      - International joint activity with the European community.
        Ian Smith, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology,
        is the Chair of the European Group for Structural
        Engineering Applications of AI, EG-SEA-AI (~60 persons).
	Baugh will be reporting on ECT activities to this group in
	August 1998.

   B. Planned for FY99

     -  We will continue to develop our WWW Homepage and investigate other
        mechanisms on the WWW that could be of benefit to the Structural
        Engineering community.

   C. Planned for the future


VI.   Plans for the Future (goals, areas of opportunity, etc.)

      - A few areas that we are discussing, and would like to bring to
	the attention of the structural engineering community are:
	ubiquitous and embedded computing, wearable computers, neural
	networks, networked collaborative design support environments,
	integrated support for usage of engineering design codes and
	standards in design systems, physical-based virtual reality,
	intelligent support for structural configuration and
	structural modeling.  The specific areas that will be
	emphasized by this committee in the future are yet to be
	determined.

VII.  List activities that have been delayed or tabled due to lack of funding.

   - None.