The inaugural Sino-American Cold-Formed Steel Research Consortium (CFSRC) Colloquium was held on 23-25 August, 2019 in Tongji University, Shanghai, China, as the first step towards expanding and formalizing international collaboration between CFSRC, first established in America, and the active group of researchers in China advancing cold-formed steel research.
As detailed in the final program. The colloquium consisted of: day 1, technical presentations to provide context for the interests and aptitude of the participants; day 2, a short course to delve more deeply into the behavior and design of cold-formed steel for engineers; and day 3, a workshop and meetings between the Chinese and American participants to initiate a broader exchange and seed the beginnings of the new international footprint for CFSRC. The mission, vision and expectations for a deepened Sino-American cold-formed steel research collaboration was widely discussed by participants from both North America (U.S. and Canada) and China.
The CFSRC was chartered in 2013 at the Johns Hopkins University with Prof. Ben Schafer as its Director. The CFSRC is a multi-institution shared-use platform for conducting research on cold-formed steel structures. Today CFSRC spans 11 universities in North America through both its member universities and affiliated investigators. CFSRC utilizes its team of researchers in cooperation with industry partners to develop a long-term vision of cold-formed steel research compatible with larger-scale funding initiatives and society-level priorities.
The First Sino-American CFSRC Colloquium was conceived by Prof. Yuanqi Li at Tongji University, China and CFSRC Director Ben Schafer. The objective of this event is to seek deeper collaboration between new Chinese CFSRC partners and current CFSRC investigators, and provide a rallying point in China for the increasing and high-quality cold-formed steel research being conducted. With the efforts of all partners, CFSRC is expected to be a unique international platform to assist in developing standards, coordinating future research, sharing facilities to enable efficient and unique research programs, and sharing data and achievements in cold-formed steel with a goal of providing the world’s most comprehensive, innovative, and impactful research efforts dedicated to improving our understanding of the behavior, and advancing the design, of cold-formed steel structures.
American CFSRC Investigators and friends that were directly involved in the meetings included: Asst Prof. Kara Peterman, Asst. Prof. Hannah Blum, Prof. Cheng Yu, Asst Prof. Zhanjie Li, and Prof. Ben Schafer, in addition Dr. Helen Chen, Mr. Nader ElHajj, and Mr. Zhidong Zhang participated from the American delegation.
The Chinese delegation was organized by Yuanqi Li and included from Tongji: Prof. Yuanqi Li, Prof. Xianzhong Zhao, Prof. Feng Zhou, and Prof. Ying Zhou; From Chongqing: Prof. Xuhong Zhou (Pres.), and Asst. Prof. Yu Shi; from Southeast Prof Lingfeng Yin, Prof. Ganping Shu, Lecturer Baofeng Zheng; from Xi’An: Prof. Mingzhou Su; from Central South: Asst Prof. Liping Wang; and from Harbin: Shuang Ni. The preceding is an incomplete list as the photo shows the Chinese participation was quite impressive.