This photo of Lone Peak at the Big Sky Resort was taken by Lois Grimason-Hilton, guest at the

EAS VI conference. More pictures will be posted as they become available.

The Engineered Adaptive Structures VI Conference (EAS) was held in Big Sky, Montana July 20 – 25, 2008. This year marked the first time our conferences was held in the United States. EAS brings together leaders and visionaries in the disciplines encompassing adaptive structures.

EAS VI focuses on the emerging technologies based on the concept that structures can be engineered to adapt to changing environments. This adaptability is achieved by integrating sensing and actuating devices within the structure together with some fun of intelligence for control purposes. While the adaptability is common in the biological world, e.g., changes in the skin color of a chameleon to match its environment, adaptability in engineered structures is still very much an emerging technology. Applications similar to this are due to advances in four major technologies that are continuing to develop rapidly in Asia, Europe, and the USA.

The structure of the conference permitted sessions to be held daily along with ample time for attendees to enjoy the wonderful sights of the American Rockies and tour the Yellowstone National Park. Plans are underway for the next EAS to be held in 2010 in Europe.

Presentations

“Active and Passive Shock Attenuation for Repeated and Single Shock Inputs to Boats and Vehicles,” Dr. Malcolm A. Swinbanks, MAS Research Ltd., USA

“Aerodynamic Noise Suppression in Viscoelastic Panels by Servo-Controls,” Dr. Harry Hilton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

“Adaptive Signal Processing for Explosive Detection,” Dr. Vittal Rao, Texas Tech University, USA

“Use of Dipole Resonator Configurations for Bi-Directional Attenuation of Plane Wave Blade Tone Noise Propagations,” Dr. Gary H. Koopmann, The Pennsylvania State University, USA

“Some new results on control of sound radiation using shunt piezoelectric materials,” Stansilaw Pietrzko, Dr. Sc. Tech., EMPA, Switzerland

“A Method for Designing and Fabricating Broad-band Vibration Absorbers for Structural Noise Control,” Dr. Eiichi Nishida, Shonan Institute of Technology, Japan

“Elastic Mass Actuator (EMA) Concept for Vibration Damping and Sound Transmission Loss Increase of Panel Structures,” Dr. Hannu Nykanen, VTT, Finland

“Noise Reduction by Intelligent Materials – Final Results of the IP InMAR,” Dr.-Ing. Thilo Bein, Fraunhofer Institut for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF, Germany

“New Concepts of SMA-Based Adaptive Architectures for Wing Shape Control,” Dr. Eng. Rosario Pecora, University of Naples, Italy, presented by Dr. Barbara Tiseo, CIRA, Italy

“A Piezoelectric Actuator for an Active Gurney Flap on a Helicopter Blade,” Dr. George A. Lesieutre, The Pennsylvania State University, USA

“A Variable Transverse Stiffness Sandwich Structure Using Fluidic Flexible Matrix Composite (F²MC),” Suyi Li, University of Michigan, USA

“Panels Dynamic Response Control by Smart Materials-Based Architectures,” Dr. Barbara Tiseo, CIRA, Italy

“A Systems Biology Overview for the Control Systems-Aware,” Dr. David Flamm, SRI International, USA

“Focusing Sound in Harbor Environments,” Dr. Gary Koopmann, The Pennsylvania State University, USA

“Structural Control Through Viscoelastic Designer/Engineered Material,”: Dr. Harry Hilton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Chapaign, USA

“Smart Interfaces: Understanding and Designing Fluid Boundaries,” Dr.-Ing. Thilo Bein, Fraunhofer Institut for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF, Germany

“Active Side Impact Protection,” Dr. -Ing. Thilo Bein, Fraunhofer Institut for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF, Germany

“Adaptronics – Research, Innovation, Application,” Dr. –Ing Thilo Bein, Fraunhofer Institut for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF, Germany