The 13th International Symposium on Structural Engineering (ISSE-13) was held from October 25 to 27 in HFUT with around 300 attendants from home and abroad.

Professor Ren Weixin, Dean of School of Civil Engineering presided over the opening ceremony as the chairman of ISSE-13. 21 renowned scholars such as Academician Ou Jinping, Liao Wenchang and Du Yanliang from Chinese Academy of Engineering gave keynote speeches on the symposium. Scholars had in-depth discussions on theories and methods of structural analysis, novel hybrid structural systems and composites, performance-based design, advanced structural experimental techniques, advanced sensing techniques, sensor networks, structural monitoring and control, disaster-prevention and hazard mitigation for infrastructure, amongst others.

ISSE is a biennial event sponsored by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) to provide a platform for experts from the academics and engineering communities in the broad areas of structural engineering and construction to present recent progress to exchange information in the topics of structural analysis, design, construction, maintenance and hazard mitigation, and to discuss the implementation and development of new tools and technologies for professional application leading to safe and sustainable infrastructure.

The 13th International Symposium on Structural Engineering held in HFUT