AIMS & SCOPE

The academy is an initiative of SAMCO, an EC funded European network on structural assessment, monitoring and control, coordinated by VCE Holding GmbH. The SAMCO network joins construction companies, bridge-owners and managers, railway consultants, road authorities, equipment suppliers, research institutions, regional and city governments and universities. Knowledge transfer is one of the main targets of the network.

The Summer Academy is a 5-day event (arrival, 3 days of full program, departure) with a limited number of participants. The objective is to bring the top-level experts from all over the world together in an event which size still allows detailed discussion.

The objectives of this academy are:

There will be representatives from the most important Research Centers in Europe, like the Joint Research Centre (JRC) or the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA), but also from partner institutions from outside Europe like the Drexel University (US), the University of Tokyo (Japan), the National Science Foundation (US), the Largest Shaking Table in the world (Japan), etc.. Besides there is a strong emphasis on the end users such as bridge managers, authorithies and administrations.

Dr. Helmut Wenzel, managing director of VCE Holding GmbH,  coordinates the SAMCO network and is main organizer of the Summer Academy 2005.