fib Symposium 2019 in Krakow
With more than 500 participants from 48 countries, the 2019 fib Symposium in Krakow was a success!
The 2019 fib Symposium was held at the Conference Centre of the Best Western Premier Kraków Hotel from 27 to 29 May 2019. The Symposium was co-organised by the Faculty of Engineering of the Cracow University of Technology (CUT) and the Polish fib National Group. The Organising Committee included Wit Derkowski (Chairman of the OC), Piotr Gwoździewicz (Vice-Chairman of the OC), David Fernández-Ordóñez (fib Secretary General), Sylwia Schoenowitz-Żuradzka (Secretary of the OC), Krzysztof Chudyba, Marek Pańtak, Łukasz Hojdys, Piotr Krajewski, Łukasz Ślaga, and Rafał Walczak.
The theme of the Symposium was “Concrete – Innovations in Materials, Design and Structures”. Out of the 283 papers, 54 papers focused on innovations in materials, 61 papers dealt with innovations in design, and 67 papers focused on innovations in structures. A wider range of topics was addressed during the sessions, including strengthening & repair, shear & torsion, fatigue & cyclic loads, durability & sustainability, and prefabrication. The Proceedings have already been indexed in Scopus. The most-represented countries were Japan (78 participants), Germany (64 participants), and Poland (62 participants).
The Opening Ceremony was held on Monday 27 May. After Wit Derkowski welcomed the participants and officially opened the Symposium, fib President Tor Ole Olsen presented the International Federation for Structural Concrete insisting on the generosity of fib members, who volunteer their knowledge and their time to allow society to benefit from their expertise.
Cracow University of Technology Rector Jan Kazior and CUT Faculty of Engineering Dean Andrzej Szarata said a few words before Tor Ole Olsen presented the fib Awards 2019 (see fib Awards article). Prof Aurelio Muttoni then presented the fib Achievement Awards for Young Engineers (see fib AAYE article).
The keynote lectures were particularly thought-provoking. Prof Marco di Prisco discussed critical infrastructures in Italy. fib Freyssinet Medal recipient architect Rudy Ricciotti’s keynote lecture focused on his personal view on the contemporary architecture in concrete with special consideration of his projects. Prof Renata Kotynia discussed whether FRP is a reinforcement alternative to steel in future structural concrete perspective. Prof Mikael Braestrup’s lecture focused on a historical perspective of concrete plasticity. A special session was held in honour of Prof Andrzej Ajdukiewicz’s 80th birthday.
Prof Renata Kotynia
Prof Mikael Braestrup
Prof Marco di Prisco
Rudy Ricciotti
Prof Andrzej Ajdukiewicz
The most popular sessions were the Strengthening and Repair session, the UHPC session, and the Project Presentation session. The longest debate took place after Prof Alessandro Palermo’s presentation on “The Concrete Architecture” of Riccardo Morandi and lasted for 23 minutes.
The second edition of the Students’ Competition was a success. Jakub Daniel, Monika Juzova, and Jachym Kopecky from the Czech Technical University in Prague (Czech Republic) were awarded the first prize for their project BathzOOm. Barbara Łabuzek and Jan Wróbel from the Cracow University of Technology (Poland) received the Social Media Prize for their make-up brushes holder.
The social highlights included the Welcome Reception and the Gala Dinner. The Welcome Reception was held on Sunday 26 May 2019 at the Jagiellonian University, whose architecture is striking. Prof Wit Derkowski welcomed the attendees, who enjoyed live music provided by Krakow Street Band and refreshments while getting to know the other participants.
The Gala Dinner was held on Tuesday 28 May at the Old Tram Depot. The participants were treated to traditional Polish live music, dances and costumes provided by Śląsk. The attendees also had the opportunity to taste craft beer produced onsite.
The Closing Ceremony was held on 29 May. The Best Paper Award was bestowed on Christoph Tomann, Ludger Lohaus, Fadi Aldakheel, and Peter Wriggers for their paper “Influence of Water-Induced Damage Mechanisms on the Fatigue Deterioration of High-Strength Concrete”. The Young Engineer Award for Best Paper was bestowed on Viviane Felizitas Adam for her paper entitled “Shear in Continuous Slab Segments without Shear Reinforcement under Distributed Loads”, co-authored with Martin Classen, Matthias Hillebrand, and Josef Hegger.
We look forward to seeing you at the next fib Symposium, which will take place from 27 to 29 April 2020 in Shanghai, China! Please visit the official website to submit your abstract and register.
