International experts gather at Nottingham to discuss monitoring engineering structures and geo-hazards

Over 190 world experts met at The University of Nottingham recently, to discuss ways of finding innovative solutions the failures of dams, tunnels, bridges and buildings as a result of fatigue, geo-hazards and other causes. Structural failures caused by excessive uses, aging of materials, landslides, ground subsidence and earthquakes are global problems that often lead to significant loss of life, infrastructure and also result in severe social and economic implications - Geometrical deformation is the process by which an object responds to an applied force. Rapid developments in advanced surveying systems, combined with new analytical tools, tele, micro-electronics and computer sciences have significantly improved deformation monitoring in applied geodesy, engineering surveying and related fields. A first for international collaboration - The event, which was entitled the 2nd Joint International Symposium on Deformation Monitoring (JISDM) brought together for the first time, the three major organisations which operate in this field - The International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) and the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS). The symposium was organised by Dr. Xiaolin Meng, Director of the University's Sino-UK Geospatial Engineering Centre and his Nottingham based team. Speaking about the event, he said: "It was an honour to host so many experts from around the world, here at The University of Nottingham.