MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
Number : 2 Date : June 27, 1999 Place : Paris, France
Attendance :
Philippe Bisch, President
Rainer Flesch, Vice President
Amr S. Elnashai, Vice President
Atilla Ansal, Secretary General
Panayotis Carydis, Ex.Com.Mem.Greece
Miha Tomazevic, Ex.Com.Mem.Slovenia
Martin Koller, Ex.Com.Mem.Switzerland
Absentee :
Franco Braga, Secretary
Carlos S. Oliveira, Ex.Com.Mem.Portugal
Prologue:
The Second Meeting of the Executive Committee of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering was held in Paris on Sunday, June 27, 1999 between 11:00 am and 5:00 pm. The Executive Committee meeting was chaired by the President.
Agenda :
1. Approval of the Agenda
2. Approval of the Minutes of the First Ex.Com. Meeting
3. Report of the President
4. Report of the Vice-President Prof.A.S.Elnashai
5. Report of the Secretary General
6. EAEE Statutes
7. Task and Working Groups
8. EAEE Bulletin
9. EAEE Network and Database
10. Miscellaneous
Item 1: The Agenda of the Meeting was approved by all members.
Item 2: The minutes of the First Executive Committee Meeting were approved and signed by all members present.
Item 3: The President started presenting his report by summarising the final figures for the XI th ECEE. He informed the Committee that the total number of participants was 766 from 52 different countries, 140 participants were registered on site and 143 participants were given different amounts of support to enable their participation to the conference.
He informed the Committee about his post-earthquake mission to Colombia and briefly explained his observations and the social impact of the earthquake. He stressed the importance of post-earthquake missions.
He expressed his views about the importance of the regional seminars and short courses to educate young researchers in the field of earthquake engineering. He also suggested examining the existing Statutes to evaluate the present situation within the association. He summarised his thoughts concerning some possibilities to increase the effectiveness of EAEE and proposed to assess the changing conditions within Europe to implement some measures.
Item 4: The Vice-President presented his report summarising his activities concerning the organisation of the XII th ECEE. He informed the Committee of the progress made in selecting the conference venue and about the organisational preparations. He also informed the Committee about the proposal submitted to EU to establish a research-training network and he presented his thoughts about some possibilities concerning the involvement of EAEE within this project.
Item 5: Secretary General informed the Executive Committee about the activities of the Central Office in relation with the publication and distribution of the Bulletins and about the future Workshops that are organised by the Task Groups, TG8 in Istanbul and by TG6 in Birmingham during IUGG. He summarised the proposals he has received from Egypt and Portugal concerning the organisation of future regional seminars. He also informed the Committee about proposals he received from A.Castellani concerning a TG9 Workshop and from D.Jurukovski concerning a Colloquium on Base isolation. The Executive Committee discussed the possibilities of the regional seminars and short courses that can be organised by National Associations as well as by the Task Groups. The Executive Committee approved all the proposals and it was decided that Secretary General should get in contact with the related National organisations to finalise the dates and organisational issues.
The Secretary General also informed the Committee about the answers he has received concerning the earthquake engineering education in the member countries as well as the list of the members of the National Associations.
Item 6: The President suggested evaluating the present situation and organisational changes that are taking place in Europe. The Executive Committee exchanged views concerning the future possibilities for improving the EAEE activities. The Committee discussed the possibilities concerning the elections of the Executive Committee members and other items in the Statutes. It was decided that the President and Vice-Presidents and Secretary General should work together and bring some proposals to the next Executive Committee meeting. It was decided to prepare proposals for possible modifications in membership, educational courses, regional seminars, financial, and general organisational issues to be discussed in the next Executive Committee meeting.
Item 7: Secretary General informed the Executive Committee about the activities of the existing Task Groups and summarised their present situation. The Executive Committee discussed each Task Group separately, decided to extend the duration of the following Task Groups, and approved the appointment of the respective coordinators as:
a. TG2 on "Interpretation of Strong Motion Records for Engineering Applications"
Coordinator: Prof. Nick Ambraseys, UK
b. TG3 on "Earthquake Hazard, Earthquake Risk and Earthquake Scenarios"
Coordinator: Prof. Mauro Dolce, Italy
c. TG4 on "Low-Cost Housing with Local Materials in Seismic Areas"
Coordinator: Prof. Rifat Yarar, Turkey
d. TG6 on "Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering and Microzonation"
Coordinator: Prof. Atilla Ansal, Turkey
e. TG7 on "Development of Shaking Table Testing Techniques"
Coordinator: Prof. Roy Severn, UK
f. TG8 on "Seismic Behaviour of Irregular and Complex Structures"
Coordinator: Prof. Victor Rutenberg, Israel
g. TG9 on "Repair and Strengthening
Coordinator: Prof. Alberto Castellani, Italy
h. TG10 on "Seismic Aspects of Historical Monument Preservation"
Coordinator: Prof. Costas Srymakezis, Greece
The Executive Committee discussed the possibilities concerning the Task Group activities in the field of seismic codes (TG1) and seismic isolation (TG5). It was decided to ask Prof. Rainer Flesch to prepare a proposal and a working plan for a possible TG on seismic codes to be discussed in the next Executive Committee meeting.
The Committee decided to assess the possibilities for future activities in the field of seismic isolation that was related to TG5 in the light of the suggestions of Prof.Jurukovski.
Upon the suggestions of the President Philippe Bisch and Carlos S. Oliveira respectively, it was decided to investigate the possibilities for two new Task Groups, TG11 concerning industrial structures and TG12 related to earthquake insurance.
Item 8: Secretary General gave information concerning the Bulletin and about the cost of printing and mailing. The Executive Committee discussed about possibilities to improve the contents of the Bulletin and about the possible changes in the format that may be implemented in the future.
Item 9: The Executive Committee discussed the possibilities of establishing networks, data bases and educational seminars among member associations within the framework of Task Group activities. The Committee expressed the importance of collaboration among member associations and agreed in principle to support all national and regional efforts in promoting earthquake engineering and in the training and education of young researchers and scientists in the field of earthquake engineering.
Item 10: The date for the next meeting was discussed. It was decided to leave it to the Secretary General to determine a possible date by corresponding with the Executive Committee members. The meeting ended with the thanks of the President.
Atilla Ansal
Secretary General