International Meeting to Focus On Structural Optimization

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The third World Congress of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, an international conference focusing on research into all aspects of the optimal design of structures and systems, will be held May 17-21 in the Natural Sciences Complex on the University at Buffalo North (Amherst) Campus.

The conference will be sponsored by the University at Buffalo and the UB Center for Advanced Design. It will be the first time the conference will be held in the U.S.

Co-sponsors include the International Society of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

The general chair of the conference is Christina Bloebaum, Ph.D., chair and associate professor of the UB Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Other members of the organizing committee are Kemper Lewis, Ph.D., assistant professor, and Roger Mayne, Ph.D., professor, both of the UB Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Papers will be presented by hundreds of researchers from institutions around the world.

Structural optimization has to do with optimizing the performance of structures, such as minimizing stress in a concrete bridge or determining the best topology for beams in a bridge. Multidisciplinary optimization is concerned with optimizing the design of complex systems, such as aircraft and cars, that may involve multiple disciplines, such as structures, controls and aerodynamics.

UB researchers will present papers on a range of issues, including how the Internet and computer visualization can be used in the field, as well as how concurrent engineering practices have influenced the bottom-line in several Western New York and Ontario companies.

A case study of optimal resource allocation in the expansion of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, conducted by UB researchers also will be presented.