Structural Engineering Providing Solutions to Global Challenges

IABSE Conference Geneva 2015 -

‘Structural Engineering – Providing Solutions to Global Challenges’

Technical Programme

The IABSE Conference Geneva, September 23-25, 2015, has been designed to showcase the significant impact that structural engineers have on society. This conference will focus on structural engineering as a key industry for addressing global challenges and ensuring sustainable growth of our society by providing a high quality built environment. Structural engineering is a central solution provider with interfaces to many other disciplines and dominant in its role and responsibility.

The four Global Themes have been carefully selected and form the central pillars of the technical programme: 1) Climate Change and the Energy Challenge 2) Global Engineering Challenges,
3) Break-Through Technologies, 4) Urbanisation and Growth will be introduced by high-level, keynote speakers, visionary debates and subsequently explore in depth by different style sessions in order to best address the complex issues and engage with the wider engineering community and key decision makers.

Keynote Speakers include:

Toni Eder, Switzerland, Federal Office of Transport, Vice Director, Head of Infrastructure

Renzo Simoni, Switzerland, AlpTransit Gotthard AG, CEO

Kristel Vanderelst, Switzerland, The Global Foresight Group, Co-Founder and CEO

Robert Silman, USA, President Emeritus, Silman Associates Structural Engineers

Jonathan E. Porritt, UK, Environmentalist and Writer

The technical programme has been developed on the basis of topics and sessions proposed within the Global Themes by the IABSE members and participants in a dynamic and interactive process. Subsequently, many contributors have become session facilitators with a high degree of influence on the actual contents of the sessions. This is the first time the conferences contents has been directly audience generated with a vision of maximising the relevance to and engagement of the conference participants. The programme features traditional technical sessions with a wide scope as well as a diverse mixture of session formats such as debates and workshops in order to accommodate different content and intent. The sessions are designed to catalyse the discussions and provide a tangible output of the conference, with the goal of leading to new IABSE activities well beyond the Geneva conference. The detailed technical programme can be downloaded at

Young Participants:

In addition to one day student registration available for Bachelor and Master Students, young engineers born in 1981 or later are offered a series of benefits by the IABSE Fellows: reduced registration fees, free IABSE Membership for 2016, and two prizes of CHF 2500 will be awarded to each of the two best young authors presenting their paper.

Registration and more information: .

The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) founded in 1929, operates on a worldwide basis and deals with all aspects of planning, design, construction, maintenance and repair of civil engineering structures. The mission of IABSE is to exchange knowledge and to advance the practice of structural engineering worldwide in the service of the profession and society. To fulfil its mission, IABSE organises conferences and publishes a high quality journal, Structural Engineering International (SEI); publishes books reflecting the work of its Technical Groups; creates Working Groups, as required by new needs and technological progress; offers activities within National Groups of IABSE; supports Young Engineers with a programme, and presents annual Awards in recognition.

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