Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Computation of Shell & Spatial Structures:
IASS-IACM 2008 - "Spanning Nano to Mega" 28-31 May 2008, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

Consistent with the earlier conferences in this series, especially the two most recent under the joint auspices of the IASS and the IACM, the objective of this Sixth Conference was to provide an international forum for the presentation and discussion of recent advances on all aspects of analysis and design of shell and spatial structures. In particular the intent was to reflect the state-of-the-art advances in computational methods in mechanics, software development, and engineering practice in this area. An additional goal was a broad perspective by addressing advanced structural concepts and methodologies in a general context rather than concentrating only on models of selected structures.

Therefore, these Proceedings include contributions regarding computation for any long-span, lightweight, fabric, or thin-walled structures at a variety of scales, in a diversity of application fields, and in both technology and nature. This is partly reflected in the subtitle of the conference, "Spanning Nano to Mega." In addition, the themes of the conference sessions included most of those addressed in the earlier conferences but with new emphasis on the related areas of computational morphogenesis, innovative materials, biological structures, and nano- and micro-structures.

It would not have been possible to put together the conference program without the extraordinary efforts contributed by colleagues who agreed to organize or co-organize sessions, or mini-symposia as they are known by some. There are 21 such mini-symposia among the total of 28 sessions included in these Proceedings, and these session organizers are listed on the contents page for each mini-symposium. Because contributors were encouraged to submit full-length papers to refereed journals, these Proceedings consist of extended abstract averaging four pages in length, although in a few cases only one-page abstracts are available.

Of special note, the conference included eight distinguished plenary lecturers, and for each of these lectures these Proceedings include digital videos and slides shows as well as the abstracts. Each plenary lecture is included in these Proceedings both in a section of collected plenaries and in an associated session. The video-recording for the plenaries was made possible by generous financial support by the Cornell College of Engineering, which is gratefully acknowledged.

Finally, we wish to note particularly a session that constitutes a special part of the conference - the session in memory of our esteemed colleague Alexander C. Scordelis, who died in August of 2007. Alex was known to us as an extraordinary teacher, an outstanding engineer, and a pioneer in the area of computation of shell and spatial structures. It is fitting, therefore, that a portion of this conference was dedicated to him and his achievements. The keynote lectures in this memorial session have also been video-recorded, and these videos are included in that session.

Many individuals contributed to the success of the Sixth Conference. They are listed in the "people" section of the conference website http://iassiacm2008.us, and their efforts are gratefully acknowledged.

John F. ABEL, General Chair of IASS-IACM 2008 and Co-Editor
J. Robert COOKE, Co-Editor
Ithaca, October 2008

NOTES:
1) In the following, "Titles" corresponds to the Session Titles.
2) Slides of the Plenary and Scordelis Memorial Lectures are available
3) Videos of the Plenary and Scordelis Memorial Lectures are available