1997 has been quite a successful year for ECCE.
Firstly, we enjoyed the return of Italy into our council, as well as the arrival of the Czech Republic, Rumania, Cyprus and Slovenia. We had the pleasure of joining l’Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees for their 250th Anniversary and our meeting in Prague was very effective.
With our Finnish colleagues, we were proud to organise the first World Symposium on computer practice in civil engineering and to prove that civil engineers were leaders in the use of modern information technologies.
Our relations with the Commission have greatly improved thanks to our active participation in ECCREDI and, especially within the TRA contract. We are also fully involved in D.G.III actions and in the preparation of the Fifth Framework Programme.
I want to express my gratitude to our members for their contribution to our development and wish to everyone and their family a very happy and prosperous New Year.
Best regards,
Gerard
ECCE held its 25th meeting to coincide with 250 years of the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees, Europe’s oldest school of civil engineering. Members and participating observers congregated in 6th and 7th June at Noissy Champs, the new home of the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees.
An expert and fascinating presentation was given to ECCE members on land use planning in France by Professor Jean-Paul Lacaze.
ECCE members are currently reviewing the promotion of the Trans-European Networks to civil engineers and examining the possibility of setting up a seminar on the Mediterranean in 1997 or 1998.
The 26th Meeting of ECCE was hosted in Prague by its newest member, the Czech Chamber of Engineers and Technicians (C.K.A.I.T.).
This was also the largest meeting of ECCE as the central European location enabled participation from Hungary, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, and Cyprus in addition to all the member countries.
September 3-5 1997, Lahti, Finland
Report by Stephen Vincent (Chairman of the Computer Applications and Methods Panel of the Institution of Civil Engineers)
At the beginning of September, civil engineers from all over the world gathered at Lahti in Finland to discuss the application of computers in civil engineering. The objective of this ECCE symposium was to "bring together civil engineers interested in developing the use of computers for the exchange of ideas, results and practical applications in this rapidly developing field".
The welcoming addresses and keynote presentations at the start of the symposium painted a backdrop of the changes taking place and challenges ahead for civil engineers. The Association of Finnish Civil Engineers played a leading role in organising the symposium, and their Managing Director, Yrjö Matikainen set the scene, followed by a welcome from the Mayor of Lahti. The President of ECCE, François-Gérard Baron, then put the symposium into a European perspective and outlined some of the challenges facing us all.
ECCE Worldwide Symposium in Finland Report Continued: Dr Juhani Kuusi from Nokia made the first keynote presentation, with examples of how communications and digital technology are changing our lives. The electronic infrastructure is now taken for granted by many people, with low cost and open standards turning the Internet into an international superhighway. In the second keynote, Steven Fenves from Carnegie Mellon University, reflected upon what research has contributed to the practice of civil engineering. The academic world must stay in touch with the practical needs of real civil engineering.
On the second day the keynote presentations started with Simon Fermor of Ove Arup on the subject of methods and software tools, encouraging engineers to be more active in defining what they need. This was followed by a presentation about the use of computer systems in the design and maintenance of the city of Espoo in Finland by Erkki Pätiälä, Deputy Mayor of Espoo, and Jarmo Suomisto, an Architect. An interesting example of using the Internet as part of a public consultation exercise in Espoo was shown, including publishing maps, drawings and computer pictures of new development plans on World-Wide Web pages.
A series of parallel technical sessions were held on each of the three days, which covered a number of important themes. There was strong representation from all parts of Europe, with many delegates and presenters from much further afield including a number of presenters from both Japan and the USA. Several of the presentations and discussions provided opportunities to compare different approaches to utilising information technology in different parts of the world.
The boundaries between some technical areas are becoming less distinct, as a result of new ways of thinking, new approaches to analysis and new developments in communication technology. Today, people with practical problems to solve are using the current generation of computer aided drafting and computer design tools. For the future, standard methods for the exchange of more comprehensive project information will allow more efficient access to information within project teams.
The state of the art in several areas of design software was shown. It was also interesting to see computers being used in long term monitoring and maintenance, for instance with the long span bridges between the islands of Japan, where a rapid response is needed when earthquakes or high winds occur.
New and developing forms of communication illustrated during the symposium will have a significant impact upon civil engineering in the future. New technical possibilities in telepresence and virtual reality could lead to new working methods. Corporate and project information systems may provide a more integrated and immediate view of all aspects of a project to everyone concerned.
From Japan, Fukuchi Yoshihiko showed an example of using an animated 3D computer model to study a complex lifting operation to repair a bridge after an earthquake. He also showed a virtual reality model of a planned new development which can be viewed by anyone through the Internet. This example reinforced the potential for civil engineers to communicate with the public through the Internet during the consultation stages of any new project, already illustrated by the example from Espoo mentioned above.
The symposium was complemented by a social programme, which provided additional opportunities for lively discussions between the delegates about opportunities to use computers more effectively in the future. A welcome reception by the City of Lahti included an entertaining description of the history of the city and a tour of the Town Hall, and the symposium dinner cruise provided a chance to appreciate some of the scenery of Finland while meeting many more of the delegates. There was also an exhibition showing some of the latest software products available to civil engineers.
The whole three day symposium was informative and thought provoking. It covered a comprehensive range of interests from the detail of contemporary computer methods to new high level viewpoints of how the construction industry may operate in the future. We should look forward to another valuable opportunity to gather and exchange views on the subject of using computers in civil engineering at the next ECCE symposium which will be held at Helsinki in June 2001.
The proceedings of the symposium are available from the Association of Finnish Civil Engineers.
L to R: Gérard Baron, Yrjö Matikainen, Stephen Vincent
Chaired by Vassilis Economopoulos of Greece.
During the 25th and 26th Meetings of ECCE, discussions focused on Continuing Professional Development.
The group is also interested in reviewing the EU-funded programmes which relate to Education and Training issues: for example, the Leonardo programme, to which ECCE has submitted proposals for the past two years; the TEMPUS programme, in which the Romanian representation of ECCE is already actively involved; and SOCRATES, where a proposal is being drawn up to submit a project concerning a pan-European project linking universities and professional bodies representing civil engineers to ensure international links between civil engineering courses and industry.
The Paris meeting discussed the problem of correlating skills with future market demand and ECCE’s role in the training of engineers and continuing professional development. Some ECCE members are experiencing a higher degree of unemployment in the construction sector and President Gérard Baron affirmed that ECCE has a statute which expresses the aim of ECCE in defining the role of future civil engineering courses. The importance of appropriateness of training for future civil engineers can not be under-estimated and members discussed the development of specialist courses for branches of civil engineering, such as waste water engineering.
Task Force Chairman, Vassilis Economopoulos, prepared a questionnaire on continuing professional development in the first half of the year and undertook to consult members on the issue. At the Prague meeting he was able to advise members on the results of the first six countries to respond and to urge further responses to shed light on the diversity existing between the systems in ECCE member countries.
The Quality Management and Certification Task Force, decided to postpone activities, having reflected that it is too expensive at present to have such a Europe-wide certification. Task Force members therefore met in Paris with prospective members and other participants to discuss contributions to the ECCE publication in progress "The Civil Engineering Profession in Europe". The ensuing discussion revealed the differences in conception of the role of the profession.
Whilst some members expressed concern that the document shall be a very general one, it was felt that the overview provided would be of great benefit to ECCE and respective national members. The difference in the systems of Europe is a frequent query made to the secretariat and calls are also often received from young engineers, wondering if the European system of civil engineering is harmonised and if there are constraints upon working in other countries of Europe.
A draft document was given to all members to review at the Prague meeting in October. It was clear that statistics provided would have to be reviewed and discussion focused on areas of the document where information would have to be augmented or set out in a more concise manner to present a more uniform picture of the scenario. The deadline for submission of information is year end 1997 in order to allow time for editing, proof-reading and publication prior to the publication of the document in 1998.
Chaired by Mike Cottell of the UK.
In Paris, the task force had a very full agenda and time did not permit a full discussion of all the topics.
The Task Force discussed ‘fuels of the future’. The need to reduce emissions to comply with World Health Organisation targets requires serious consideration of alternative fuels, electric, natural gas, dimethanol and hydrogen being possibilities. The use of fuels derived from sugar and rape seed are also being considered.
The need to develop sustainable fuel sources such as wind and hydro were also discussed. The Task Force debated solid waste disposal and the draft EU directive published in March 1997.
On water policy the Task Force is concerned about river basin management and recommends civil engineers should be much more proactive in this area. As 30% of water supply world wide is across frontiers, it is important that ECCE response to the EU on any water policy directives.
At the last meeting in Athens, Dorthe Bechman of Denmark gave a presentation to the Task Force on renewable energy. Her presentation on this subject to all ECCE members in Paris was well received. The EU has stated a need to increase use of renewable energy by 6%. Denmark has an Energy Plan an d Energy Consumption in buildings has been halved since 1972. Increased, insulation, heat planning, pricing and energy standard s have all contributed to this success.
Chaired by Mr Yrjö Matikainen of Finland.
In Paris detailed discussion took place on the Fifth Framework Programme for Research and Development - members were disappointed not to have more time to exchange views and opinions in a very lively and positive meeting. The Prague meeting in October painted a different picture.
Having been confident of their contribution to the content of the Fifth Framework Programme with ECCE’s March 1996 position paper . It mainly agreed with the Commission’s opinions but stressed the importance of including in the programme building and environmental technology.
In October, the group discussed the fact that the ‘natural home’ of construction research was the City of Tomorrow section of the Fifth Framework Programme and this was under threat. Members were exhorted to promote the importance of the City of Tomorrow with national MPs, MEPs and other decision-makers.
ECCE is currently gathering together information on Ethics and Codes of Conduct from all Member Countries and aims to provide European guidelines for the professional conduction of the civil engineer.
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