AECEF NEWSLETTER 1/1997

The Second AECEF International Symposium and The Second General Assembly of the Association of the European Civil Engineering Faculties will be held at The Engineering College of Odense, Denmark in May 5 - 7 (9), 1997

Symposium Aims

The Second AECEF International symposium will bring together professionals within education and others with an interest in civil engineering education from all over the world to discuss the three themes:

1. Quality in Civil Engineering Education.
2. Assessment of Civil Engineering Education.
3. The Impact of Trainee Service on Qualifications of Civil Engineering Graduates.

Symposium goals:

1. To establish - through its conclusion - a platform for development of a system of analysis and description of professional and pedagogical phenomena within civil engineering education.
2. To create an international network of professionals interested in the future improvement of quality within civil engineering education.
3. Through the discussion of the importance of trainee service and industrial training to contribute to an increase in the use of this means - especially in the light of the need for more international experience in young civil engineers.

General Assembly of the AECEF

The General Assembly is the highest body of the Association. Through its mediation members of the Association exercise their rights to participate in the Association's activities, make decisions concerning its activities and make comments.

During the symposium period two sessions of The General Assembly will be held. The former is open to all interested parties and have the aim to give general information on AECEF and the activities in its working committees. The latter session of the general assembly will be closed to others than AECEF members.

Institutions i.e. civil engineering faculties or departments of universities, colleges and schools of engineering and others - individuals and companies and associations with an interest in civil engineering education - are welcome to apply for membership of the AECEF during the course of the symposium.

The closed sessions of The General Assembly have the following aims:

1. approval of the Association Statutes and possible amendments to them,
2. decision on the Association's activities and its Working Committees,
3. election of the President, Board members and General Secretary in accordance with the established rules.

The General Assembly is convened by the President at least once every three years. The General Assembly has a quorum if at least one half of the members of the Association are present. Decisions are passed on a simple majority vote.

Symposium and General Assembly programme and schedule :

Monday 5 May

Tuesday 6 May

Wednesday 7 May

Thursday 8 May

Friday 9 May

Papers

Three white papers have been produced on the initiative of the scientific committee, one on each symposium theme as follows:

Papers submitted by the participants are both very welcome and a necessary condition for a successful course of the symposium. They should, however, be close related to one of the three symposium themes. As a rule submitted papers will be published as a part of the symposium proceedings, but depending on the number and nature of papers, the steering committee will take the liberty to make a selection.

Papers must be written in English and should be forwarded in both printed and electronic form (preferably WordPerfect or Word format). Their length should preferably not exceed approximately 2000 words and authors should bear in mind that the use of graphics very often create reproduction problems.

Papers should be received by the steering committee (see address below) no later than March 20, 1997. Papers sent by fax before the deadline will be considered received in time providing original manuscript and floppy disk are received by surface mail subsequently.

Workshops

Since workshop two and three as well as the presentation of the appurtenant white papers run in parallel (see programme) it is necessary for the participants to choose the combination of workshops they are interested in.

Depending on the number of participants and their preferences a subdivision in groups small enough to secure efficient discussion possibilities will be done by the steering committee. It is the intention of the steering committee that as much time as possible should be dedicated to an in-depth discussion of the themes. Therefore only a few number of submitted papers will be “officially” presented. The criterion for selection of these papers will not necessarily be their professional quality, but more their ability to trigger a rich and fruitful discussion. Persons who are asked to present their papers will be informed beforehand, others are asked to let their contribution be part of the discussion.

In order to procure a varied workshop discussion, the scientific committee will try to match people in groups according to different criteria, such as nationality and nature and subject of submitted papers. Participants will be informed about group membership on arrival.

Educational Marketplace

During the course of the Symposium (i.e. 5 through 7 May) an educational fair will be arranged. This could include exhibition of posters, video shows, book stands, computer programme demonstrations, etc. It is the intention that the luncheon area should be an integrated part of the fair, thus making it possible for the participants to explore the fair during pauses. The Symposium and AECEF secretariats as well as press facilities will be situated in the same area.

It is the hope of the scientific committee that the market place also could contribute to the establishment and strengthening of contacts between institutions, and that this will lead to an improvement of student and teaching staff mobility. Furthermore the market place will offer staff and students of the host institution and interested individuals from the Funen area an opportunity to get a feel for what is going on.

The only condition for using the market place facilities is that arrangements and activities are in some way connected with the symposium themes. Institutions and individuals who are interested in being part of the fair are asked to contact the organising committee for further details. The use of the area is free of charge but each participating party must take care of its own arrangements.

Fees

Registration fee for the symposium is 1000.- DKK for participation in the symposium and/or the general assembly. The fee includes the professional programme, the symposium proceedings, lunches and coffee/tea, official reception and symposium dinner. For accompanying persons the fee is 550.- DKK covering official reception and symposium dinner. Depending on the number of accompanying persons, a small cultural programme (see registration form) will be arranged.

The fee for participation in the technical excursions are 900.- DKK for The Great Belt Bridge visit (Thursday) and 2000.- DKK for both The Great Belt and The Great Belt Bridge visit. (Thursday and Friday). The fees are exclusive of the extra necessary accommodation. Since The Great Belt Bridge visit will be arranged subsequently to The Great Belt Bridge visit and since this involves moving participants to accommodation in Copenhagen it is not possible to participate in The Great Belt Bridge visit alone. The fees for the technical excursions are based on participation of no less than 30 persons.

Payment and accommodation

All arrangements concerning registration, payment, accommodation and general practical information are done by KongresBureau Fyn. Svendborgvej 83-85, DK-5250 Odense S, Denmark. Tel. +45 6612 7530 Fax +45 6613 1338.

Information about Symposium

All information about The Second AECEF International Symposium are provided by the Symposium Organising Committee :

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