Co-sponsored by IOM3

The International Journal of Protective Structures was successfully launched at the International Workshop on Structures Response to Impact and Blast (IWSRIB) in November 2009 in Israel. Many IWSRIB delegates recognised the necessity of forming an International Association of Protective Structures as a platform to bring academics, researchers and practising engineers together for better infrastructure protections against man-made and natural explosion and impact.

With this latest development, the scheduled third International Conference on Analysis and Design of Structures against Explosion and Impact (3rd ADSEI) will be joined with the second International Workshop on Structures Response to Impact and Blast (2nd IWSRIB) to form a new series of International Conference of Protective Structures (ICPS) and the first ICPS will be held from 29 September to 1 October 2010 in Manchester, UK. It is planned that the new International Association of Protective Structures will be formed and launched in the first ICPS. All persons interested in civil infrastructure protection are invited to participate in this exciting event.

ICPS focuses on civil infrastructure protection against man-made and natural explosion and impact, which is also the primary theme of the proposed International Association of Protective Structures, and is consistent with the scope of the International Journal of Protective Structures. With the increased global terrorist threat, the transfer of impact and blast mitigation technology from military applications to civil infrastructure protection becomes crucial. The topics of ICPS are complementary to the topics of another important conference, The 21st International Symposium on Military Aspects of Blast and Shock (MABS21), which will be held in Jerusalem from 3-8 October 2010. The first ICPS is therefore scheduled from 29 September to 1 October 2010 to provide a good opportunity for interested people to attend both conferences.

The conference will not only provide a forum for participants to review, discuss and present the latest developments in the broad disciplines of structural protection against explosive and impact loads, but also provide opportunities for participants to renew and expand personal and professional friendships and contacts, and to witness the launching of the International Association of Protective Structures.