[ overview ]

The 6th International Conference on Reliable Engineering Computing (REC) is hosted by the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL, United States. The theme of this conference is “Reliability and Computations of Infrastructures”. Academic institutions and industry are invited to contribute and to join in the discussions on needs and developments in the field.

Reliable Engineering Computing has emerged as a multi-disciplinary quality brand with this conference series, which has been hosted at Georgia Tech Savannah in 2004, 2006, and 2008 , at the National University of Singapore in 2010, and at Brno University of Technology in Brno, Czech Republic in 2012. The REC-meetings provide a unique symbiosis of various engineering and associated disciplines with the kernel areas of Civil/Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, and Mathematics. Central issue of the discussions is the reliability of engineering computations. Cross-disciplinary advisements generate synergy and impulses of a new quality for research and development, as well as for innovative applications.

The organization of REC2014 in Chicago will help to cater to the growing global interest in Reliable Engineering Computing. REC2014 is focusing on providing solutions for reliability and computational issues in infrastructural systems. From a perspective of infrastructure system performance, many infrastructures worldwide are approaching the end of their design life, and require repair or replacement. Therefore, there is a crucial need for design/decision making methodologies and protocols that will assure maintaining the safe operation of infrastructures. These methods will assist practicing engineers to decide whether to repair or replace an infrastructure system. Moreover, they can be used to perform the cost analysis for construction and maintenance of structural systems.

As, in the previous conferences, different fields of engineering, sciences, and mathematics within the context of risk and uncertainty will be addressed. While providing solutions for real life problems represents the ultimate goal of the engineering profession, it is crucial to retain the rigor of mathematical formulations and their computational implementations to ensure safety, reliability, and more accurate predictions. The keystone in this aspect is the development of appropriate modeling of the new and existing infrastructures. and the use of realistic information in parameters’ evaluation. The potential for research ranges over all scientific and societal issues related to reliability and computations of infrastructures.

REC2014, with its unique multi-disciplinary character, provides an ideal platform to bring the various aspects together and to achieve advancements in the field of Reliable Engineering Computing and solution strategies will be discussed and examined within the framework of infrastructures. The results of this Conference will provide support for translation of Reliable Engineering Computing into general engineering practice.