Shock Waves (1998) 8: 383 384
Report on the 21st International Symposium on Shock Waves
A. Paull
Center for Hypersonics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Queensland, 4072, Australia
Received 7 September / Accepted 7 September 1998
Abstract. Shock wave symposium
The International Symposium on Shock Waves is held ev- originated were as follows: Japan, 93; Australia, 50; USA,
ery two years by different host institutions for the purpose 40; France, 24; Germany, 23; UK, 15; Russia, 12; China,
of disseminating information and discussing shock wave 10; The Netherlands, 6; South Africa, 5; Canada, 3; Israel,
phenomena of all kinds. Previous symposia have been lo- 3; and one each from Czech Rep., India and Taiwan. In
cated close to centers of activities in the field. However, for addition, 86 partners registered for the partners program
the 21st symposium, a break in this tradition was made. and over 50 children were present. In total, on the island,
Although the Local Organising Committee was based at there were over 400 people who were directly connected
the University of Queensland, The Australian National with the symposium.
University and The University of New South Wales, it was
Although this symposium was held along the tradi-
decided that the pleasant surrounding of Great Keppel Is- tional lines that have been established over the past 40
land on the Great Barrier Reef off Australia s East Coast
years, some changes were made. The main change has been
would be more appreciated by the participants. This cre- the use of a CD for the primary format of the Proceedings.
ated some logestical problems for both the organising com- This form of media is very useful as it allows the reader to
mittee and the participants, but there was general agree- use extensive search capabilities, quick links, and provides
ment that the relaxed atmosphere and the idyllic location
the ability to magnify figures and text. Some authors also
provided an excellent enviroment for the scientific presen- took advantage of the CD format by including colour fig-
tations and discussions.
ures to help clarify complex information. It is clear that
in the future more elaborate papers which include motion
Workshops were also held in conjunction with the meet-
pictures will be possible with this very versatile format.
ing at The University of Queensland and The Australian
Although the CD format for the symposium has certain
National University to give an opportunity for the partici-
advantages, a hard copy of the proceedings is still useful
pants to view the facilities at these institutions and to dis-
in many situations. Hence, a hard bound version of the
cuss, in more detail, problems of particular interest to the
proceedings was produced. The hard bound version (Chief
shock-wave community.
Editor A.F.P Houwing) consists of two volumes with a to-
The format of the symposium followed that of pre-
tal number of pages exceeding 1500. Approximately, 100
vious symposia in that a limited number of papers where
books were originally requested by the participants.
selected from extended abstracts. Over 400 abstracts were
The costs of the symposium were kept to a minimum
received and each was reviewed by at least three members
through a significant amount of in-kind and financial sup-
of the Scientific Review Committee, which was comprised
port. The efforts of following organisations in making con-
of members of the international community who are ex-
tributions in this way to this symposium are greatly ap-
perts in their chosen fields. Of the 400 abstracts, 238 were
preciated:
selected for presentation in either an oral session (167) or
Japan Society of Shock Wave Research
one of two poster sessions (71). In addition, 9 speakers
Events R Us
were invited to give plenary lectures on topics covering
Air New Zealand
shock-wave related research in facility development, med-
Various members of the International Advisory Commit-
ical applications, chemistry, volcanoes, scramjets, powder
compaction, astrophysics and laser diagnostics. Hans Hor- tee to the ISSW21
nung presented the traditional Paull Vieille lecture, pro- The Australian Tourist Commission
viding an excellent and enlightening presentation on the
QANTAS
interactions between chemical kinetics and curvature.
ANUTECH
Two hundred and eighty six people registered, of which Center for Hypersonic, Dept. of Mech. Eng. and Physics,
65 were students. The nations from which the participants The University of Queensland
384 A. Paull: Report on the 21st International Symposium on Shock Waves
The Department of Physics, The Australian National Uni-
versity
The Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Univer-
sity of New South Wales
Acknowledgement. I would also like to acknowledge the help
and support of all members and their families of the Local
Organising Committee, the Editors and those that gave ad-
ditional technical support, the International Advisory Com-
mittee to the ISSW21, the Scientific Review Committee and
members of the Local Organising Committee of the previous
symposium.