COMPRAIL 2022 - Call for Papers

18th International Conference on Railway Engineering Design & Operation

21–23 September 2022

Valencia, Spain

Introduction

The 18th International Conference on Railway Engineering Design and Operation (COMPRAIL 2022), is the latest in a series of very successful meetings which started in Frankfurt in 1987 and continued in Rome (1990); Washington (1992); Madrid (1994); Berlin (1996); Lisbon (1998); Bologna (2000); Lemnos (2002); Dresden (2004); Prague (2006); Toledo (2008); Beijing (2010); the New Forest, home of the Wessex Institute (2012); Rome (2014); Madrid (2016), Lisbon (2018) and online in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The meeting is organised by the Wessex Institute and the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain and sponsored by WIT Transactions on the Built Environment and the International Journal of Transport Development and Integration. The Conference aims to update the use of advanced systems, promoting their general awareness throughout the management, design, manufacture and operation of railways and other emerging passenger, freight and transit systems. It emphasises the use of computer systems in advanced railway engineering.

The meeting attracts a variety of specialists interested in the development of railways, including managers, consultants, railway engineers, designers of advanced train control systems and computer specialists. It provides a forum for researchers, academics and practitioners involved in railway engineering to present and discuss the latest developments.

Since 1993 all published papers are archived in the Wessex Institute eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary), where they are easily and permanently available in Open Access format to the international community.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at COMPRAIL 2022. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Advanced train control
• Operational quality
• Risk management
• Planning and policy
• Monitoring and maintenance
• Energy efficiency and power supply
• Signalling and train control systems
• Timetabling and rescheduling
• Safety and security
• Vehicle dynamics
• Driverless and automatic train operation
• System integration
• High-speed technology
• Interoperability
• Modelling and simulation
• Multi-modal integration
• Magnetic levitation vehicles
• Telecommunications in rail transport
• Freight transport
• Real-time operations
• Ticketing
• Singletrack traffic
• Track design and maintenance strategies
• Intelligent railway systems
• Road and rail synergy
• Electrical railroad
• Railway logistics
• Passenger guidance and user behaviour
• High-density rails
• Railway resilience
• Environmental impact and CO2 reduction
• IoT applications to railway vehicles
• Wheel-rail contact
• Adhesion and wear
• CBM and new maintenance techniques applied to railway
• Hydrogen and battery trains
• Case studies

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Urban and Maritime Transport 2022 - Call for Papers

28th International Conference on Urban and Maritime Transport and the Environment

19–21 September 2022

Valencia, Spain

Introduction

This conference is the merging of two successful events organised by the Wessex Institute, the International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment which started in Southampton in 1995 and the International Conference on Maritime Transport which originated in Rome, Italy in 2019.

The International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment has successfully been reconvened for 28 years, always attracting a wide international spread of delegates, well established as the premier event of its type. The conference started in Southampton in 1995; continuing in Barcelona (1996); Acquasparta, Italy (1997); Lisbon (1998); Rhodes (1999); Cambridge, UK (2000); Lemnos, Greece (2001); Seville (2002); Crete (2003); Dresden (2004); Algarve (2005); WIT Campus in the New Forest (2006); Coimbra (2007); Malta (2008); Bologna (2009); Limassol (2010); Pisa (2011), A Coruña (2012), Kos (2013), Algarve (2014), Valencia (2015), Crete (2016), Rome (2017), Seville (2018), Aveiro (2019) and online in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the substantial growth of maritime shipping has resulted in large transported quantities around the world, creating a demand for innovative solutions for ports and fleets, well reflected by the success of the First International Conference on Maritime Transport, held in 2019.

These two apparently parallel topics meet in the transport and environmental management of coastal cities, both being affected positively and negatively by landside and seaside traffic.

The continuing requirement for better urban transport systems and the need for a healthier environment creates a fertile environment for original ideas, innovative approaches and applications of advanced technologies, their tests and evaluations in practice. Moreover, there is a growing need for integration with IT systems and applications to improve safety and efficiency.

Maritime Transport is highly interconnected with rail, road and air services, as well as inland waterways. Each of these must therefore operate complimentary of one another to maximise efficiency and respond rapidly to variable economic and political contingencies.

The variety of topics covered by the conference reflects the complex interaction of the transport systems with their environment and the need to establish integrated strategies. The aim is to arrive at optimal socio-economic solutions while reducing the negative environmental impacts of transportation systems typically by interdisciplinary approaches. Therefore, the conference will focus on multidisciplinary research and development, as well as operational experiences.

All published papers from previous meetings are archived in the Wessex Institute eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary) where they are easily and permanently available in Open Access format to the international community.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Urban and Maritime Transport 2022. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Traffic planning, control and management
• Transportation policy and governance
• Mobility and public spaces in smart cities and other urban environments
• Advanced logistics, urban freight distribution and IOT
• Freight handling and transport
• Positioning, route planning and monitoring, and fleets management
• Public transport systems
• Autonomous vehicle technology
• Naval technology
• Environmental Impacts
• Socio-economic implications
• Guided transport systems
• Ports and inland waterborne operation
• Impacts on land and coastal use
• Intermodal and multimodal transport systems
• Innovative transport concepts and shared mobility
• Traffic simulation and digital twins applications
• Land and marine GIS
• Meteorology and oceanography issues
• Reliability, availability and maintainability
• Safety, security and risk analysis
• Accident analysis and investigations
• Renewable energy sources and technology
• Designing for variations in demand and operation
• Transport system modelling and simulation
• Ro-Ro, Ro-Pax and cruise shipping
• Containers and bulk shipping
• International standards and regulations
• Transport infrastructures development
• Intelligent and advanced transport systems
• Education and training initiatives
• History of cities and navigation
• Informal transport solutions
• Case studies

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Islamic Heritage 2022 - Call for Papers

4th International Conference on Islamic Heritage Architecture and Art

13–15 July 2022

Lisbon, Portugal

Introduction

The meeting will deal with the design of many types of buildings in Islamic countries, including not only the better known public buildings like mosques, mausolea, citadels and forts, but also houses and gardens, engineering works such as bridges and dams, irrigation systems and many others which have also had a profound impact on society.

Islamic architecture has enriched design with a wide variety of structural shapes, including among others, unique arches, a wide variety of vaults and domes which allow for new forms to be developed. The influence that these structural forms have in non-Islamic countries will be one of the themes of the conference.

There is much to learn from past experiences to arrive at solutions that are environmentally sound and sustainable in the long term. As conventional energy resources become scarce, the Islamic design heritage can offer invaluable lessons on how to deal in an efficient manner with cases of hard and extreme environments. Traditional architecture and urban environments in most Islamic countries are now being eroded by overemphasis on a global type of architecture and city planning. As a consequence, many regions are losing their identity. The conference will aim to review these developments in the light of what the classical Islamic urban designs and architectures have to offer modern society.

An equally important part of the meeting will analyse the materials employed and the types of structural elements, particularly those unique to Islamic architecture. Associated topics of discussion will include music, textiles and ceramics, which are essential parts of the architectural fabric. The Conference will encompass papers on construction materials, including not only stone and brick but also more perishable materials like adobe, wood and reeds.

Preserving that heritage also requires the development of appropriate conservation techniques in response to the different materials used and the ways structural forms work, including under extreme conditions, such as earthquakes.

Papers relevant to the influence of Islamic architecture on the development of new structural form, shape and design in Western countries are particularly welcome.

The meeting will be of interest to all researchers, practitioners and government employees actively involved in the topic of Islamic heritage architecture and art.

All published papers from previous meetings are archived in the Wessex Institute eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary) where they are easily and permanently available in Open Access format to the international community.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Islamic Heritage 2022. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Historical aspects
• Heritage studies
• Archaeological studies
• Mosques and minarets
• Conservation and restoration
• Citadels and fortifications
• Urban environment
• Baths and Caravanserais
• Palaces
• Houses and gardens
• Bridges and dams
• Irrigation systems
• Climate adaptability
• Structural characteristics
• The use of light and orientation
• Construction materials
• Oman and Eastern Saudi Arabian architecture
• Architecture in Malaysia and Indonesia
• Mediterranean Islamic heritage
• The upper Gulf (Kuwait and Basra)
• The central Gulf (Bahrain and Qatar)
• The lower Gulf architecture
• The Persian coast and islands
• The Trucial coast (Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the Northern Emirates)
• Classical Ottoman architecture
• The Balkans legacy
• The Black and Caspian sea legacies
• Islamic architecture along the Silk Road
• Islamic architecture in China
• Afghanistan and Persia
• Islamic architecture in the ex-Soviet republics
• The Indian continent
• Islamic architecture in Al-Andalus and other Spanish regions
• Influences in the Americas
• Islamic architecture in Africa
• New cities and the search for authenticity
• Islamic architecture in Far East countries
• Cross-cultural encounters
• Travel writings
• Art and literature
• Islamic calligraphy and Islamic manuscripts
• Contemporary forms of Islamic arts
• Case studies

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Eco-Architecture 2022 - Call for Papers

9th International Conference on Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature

12–14 July 2022

Lisbon, Portugal

Introduction

The objective of this Conference is to review the challenges and new opportunities of contemporary architecture. These are a result of advances in design and new building technologies, as well as the development of new materials.

Many of the changes are motivated by a drive towards eco-architecture, trying to harmonise architectural products with nature. Another important issue is the adaptation of the architectural design to the natural environment, learning from nature and traditional construction techniques.

Contemporary architecture is at the threshold of a new stage of evolution, deeply influenced by the advances in information and computer systems and the development of new materials and products, as well as construction processes that will drastically change the industry.

Emphasis is placed on the minimum use of energy at each stage of the building process, the design by passive systems, life cycle assessment, resources optimisation and rehabilitation.

Never before in history have architects and engineers had such a range of new processes and products open to them. In spite of that, the construction industry lags behind all others in taking advantage of a wide variety of new technologies. This is understandable, due to the inherent complexity and uniqueness of each architectural project. Advances in computer and information systems, including robotics, offers the possibility of developing new architectural forms, construction products and building technologies that are just now starting to emerge. Changes have also taken place in the way modern society works and lives, due to the impact of modern technologies.

Patterns of work have been disrupted and changed, affecting transportation and the home environment. The demand is for a new type of habitat that can respond to the changes and the consequent requirements in terms of the urban environment.

The conference will deal with topics such as building technologies, design by passive systems, design with nature, cultural sensitivity, life cycle assessment, resources and rehabilitation and many others including case studies from many different places around the world. The list of topics gives an idea of the scope of the meeting, papers on other topics relating to the conference objectives are welcome.

All conference papers are archived in the Wessex Institute eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary) where they are easily and permanently available in Open Access format to the international community.

Architecture is very multi-disciplinary, attracting many different professions. In this regard, the conference participants are expected to be engineers, planners, computer experts, physical scientists, sociologists and economists, as well as architects, providing all of them an opportunity to share information and ideas with their colleagues from different regions of the world.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Eco-Architecture 2022. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Design

  • Design with nature
  • Passive systems
  • Building information modelling
  • Bioclimatic design
  • Transformative design
  • Contemporary habitat typologies
  • Smart houses
  • Building flexibility
  • Adapted reuse
  • Sustainability indices in architecture
  • Circular economy
  • Sustainable cities
  • Effects of a pandemic on architecture

• Building technology

  • Innovative materials and products
  • Green facades
  • Integrated renewable systems
  • Advanced building envelope
  • Performance assessment
  • Regenerative buildings
  • Ecological impacts of materials
  • Life cycle assessment and durability
  • Recycle, reuse, reduce and recovery
  • Eco-design and Eco-labelling

• Built environment

  • Design and construction integration
  • Flexible housing
  • Floating buildings
  • Tall buildings and environment
  • Energy performance

• Society

  • Community participation
  • Education and training
  • End-use energy efficiency
  • Consumer engagement
  • Occupants’ behaviour
  • Houses as a working environment
  • Management and maintenance
  • Ecological and cultural sensitivity
  • Impact of technology
  • Post-occupancy evaluation
  • Urban landscaping, agriculture and green spaces

• Case Studies

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