CSTAM CELEBRATES GOLDEN JUBILEE

The Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (CSTAM) celebrated in Beijing recently, 50 years of its formation. In conjunction with this, the Society held its 2007 Congress on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics on 20 and 21 August. The Congress was attended by more than 1,500 members of CSTAM. Throughout China CSTAM has a membership of more than 20,000.

CSTAM played a crucial in the development of mechanics in China . In his speech, the President of CSTAM Professor Li Jiachun described how a strategy for the development of mechanics was established in China in early 1957, and how this was followed with the publication of the first scientific periodical on mechanics in China , the Chinese Journal of Mechanics. Senior Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) presented keynote addresses at the launch of the Congress.

CSTAM became an adhering organization of IUTAM (International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics), an international union of the ICSU family, in 1980. IUTAM was represented at the Congress by its President, Professor Ben Freund. Earlier that week IUTAM held a meeting of its Bureau in Beijing . Discussions were also held with the participation of a number of key scientists in theoretical and applied mechanics, on the formation of an International Centre for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics based in Beijing . The Centre is expected to play a major role in promoting capacity building in the field of mechanics in Asia and the Pacific .

For more details of CSTAM go to http://www.cstam.org.cn/enindex.asp

Details of IUTAM can be found at http://www.iutam.net/iutam/index.php