International conferences raise profile of AUS as a research university

Two consecutive conferences bring together international experts presenting research papers on engineering and technology.

Scientists, engineers and technologists from around the world have gathered at American University of Sharjah (AUS) to present their latest research and exchange ideas about development in areas of mutual interest at two international conferences that commenced at the university today, April 4. The presence of international experts at the events reaffirms the university's commitment to becoming leading research university.

The Eleventh International Conference on Composite Science and Technology (ICCST/11) and the Seventh International Conference on Modeling, Simulation and Applied Optimization (ICMSAO'17) have been organized by faculty members from the College of Engineering (CEN) and College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), and provide a forum for networking and intellectual discussions among faculty, students and practitioners and aim to promote research activities within the local and international communities.

Speaking at the opening session, Dr. Khaled Assaleh, Interim Vice Provost of Research and Graduate Studies at AUS, said "AUS has gained recognition as one of the most reputed universities in the region," he said. "This conference is being held at a very important time in the university's history, as AUS has been recently mandated by its board of trustees to become a research university."

Dr. Mohamed El Tarhuni, Vice Provost of Graduate Studies and Professor of Electrical Engineering; Dr. Hany El-Kadi, Associate Dean of CEN and Professor of Mechanical Engineering; and Dr. Hana Sulieman, Department Head and Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, also spoke on the occasion and welcomed the participants to AUS.

The keynote speakers were Dr. Peter Beaumont, Emeritus Reader in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, UK who presented "A Perspective on Contemporary Composite Materials"; and Dr. Wesley Cantwell, Associate Dean of Research at Khalifa University, UAE who presented "Lightweight Composite Structures for Energy-Absorbing Applications"; Professor Eric Postman from Tilburg University in the Netherlands who presented "Towards Social Computers”; and TJ Rancher, Hyperloop One, Los Angeles, USA, who presented "Modeling, Simulation, and Optimization Techniques for Hyperloop One Terrestrial Transportation Technology."

ICCST/11attracted about 100 technical papers from 20 countries related to mechanics of composites, ceramic composites, infrastructural use of composites, metal-matrix composites, nondestructive evaluation and characterization of composites, composite manufacturing, polymers and polymer composites, fracture and fatigue of composites, smart materials and structures, numerical and mathematical modeling of composites, applications of composites in civil engineering, nano-composites and other composite-related topics. After the review process, 61 papers were selected to be presented and will be published in a number of international journals such as Applied Composite Materials.

ICMSAO'17covered a wide range of topics related to all areas of engineering and mathematics. It attracted more than 150 technical papers from 28 countries related to artificial intelligence, renewable energy, robotics, biomedical, engineering systems, management, mathematical modeling and many other topics. International speakers from academia and industry spoke at the conference about social computers, Hyperloop One terrestrial transportation, simulation for aerospace and defense, and platform-based engineering and science applications.

The conferences will continue until tomorrow, April 5, 2017.