With 119 full peer-reviewed technical papers, 5 keynote papers and over 180 delegates registered for the Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2016 (CERI2016) conference, this edition, held in the Engineering Building at National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway, on 29th and 30th August, has been the largest in the conference series to date. The event counted with the participation of 8 TRUSS ESRs (Sofia Antonopoulou (UCD), Shah Nur Alam Sourav (Arup), Alberto Gonzalez (ENSA), Rui Teixeira (TCD), Farhad Huseynov (FSDL), Barbara Heitner (Phimeca), JJ Moughty (UPC), Daniel Martinez (UCD)) and 7 TRUSS supervisors (Salam Al-Sabah (Arup), Luis Costas (ENSA), Alan OConnor and Maria Nogal (TCD), Eugene OBrien, Ciaran McNally and Arturo Gonzalez (UCD)). TRUSS ESRs presented seven papers included in the conference proceedings. Individual presentations were about 10 minutes long followed by 3 minutes of questions.
On Monday 29th August:
- Alberto Gonzalez (ESR3) and Sofia Antonopoulou (ESR1) presented “Dynamic analysis of the nonlinear response of high density fuel storage racks” (co-authored by Luis Costas and Arturo Gonzalez) and “Developing braided FRP reinforcement for concrete structures” (co-authored by Ciaran McNally and Greg Byrne) respectively, in the morning Session ‘Materials I’ chaired by Dr. Paul Archbold.
- Daniel Martinez (ESR12), Barbara Heitner (ESR8) and JJ Moughty (ESR10) presented “Drive-by Bridge Damage Detection Using Curvatures in Uncertain Environments” (co-authored by Eugene OBrien and Enrique Sevillano), “Evaluation of bridge safety based on Weigh-in-Motion data“ (co-authored by Eugene OBrien, Franck Schoefs, Rodriguez Decatoire, Theirry Yalamas and Cathal Leahy) and “Advancements of Vibration Based Damage Detection Techniques for Small to Medium Span Bridges“ (co-authored by Joan Ramon Casas) respectively, in the morning Session ‘Bridges I’ chaired by Prof. Eugene OBrien.
On Tuesday 30th August:
- Rui Teixeira (ESR4) presented “Comparative analysis of the probabilistic methods to estimate the probability of failure of offshore wind turbine towers“ (co-authored by Alan O’Connor and Maria Nogal), in morning Session ‘Structures’ chaired by Mr. Shane Newell.
- Shah Nur Alam Sourav (ESR2) presented “Strength assessment of in-situ concrete for the evaluation of structural capacity: State of the art“ (co-authored by Salam Al-Sabah and Ciaran McNally), in afternoon Session ‘Concrete III’ chaired by Dr Bryan Magee.
CERI started as an enormously successful Bridge and Concrete Research Ireland (BCRI) conference series in 2002. As the research needs broaden, and the range of submission widened correspondingly, the Organizing Committee of BCRI 2012 recommended re-naming the conference series to CERI. In addition, to streamline the organization from year-to-year, it was hoped that a special purpose organizing body should be established, termed the Civil Engineering Research Association of Ireland (CERAI). The CERAI was formed for the purpose of promoting civil engineering research and practice in Ireland, and its communication to academics, practitioners and key stakeholders including local and national authorities. CERI conference series have been and are held about every two years. They address all relevant aspects of the subject of civil engineering systems, including bridges, concrete, other materials, geotechnics and other forms of civil engineering. There are emphasis on applications as well as theory to maintain relevance to both industry and academia. Next CERI conference will be held at UCD (Dublin) in 2018.
