TY - JOUR

T1 - Special issue "Uncertainty quantification in structural analysis and design: To commemorate Professor Gerhart I. Schuëller for his life-time contribution in the area of computational stochastic mechanics"

AU - Jensen, Hector A.

AU - Beer, Michael

N1 - Funding Information: Hector A. Jensen hector.jensen@usm.cl Federico Santa Maria University, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Valparaiso, Chile Federico Santa Maria University Dept. of Civil Engineering Valparaiso Chile Michael Beer mbeer@liverpool.ac.uk University of Liverpool, Institute for Risk & Uncertainty, Liverpool, UK University of Liverpool Institute for Risk & Uncertainty Liverpool UK This special issue is devoted to commemorate Professor Gerhart I. Schuëller for his life-time contributions in the area of Computational Stochastic Mechanics. It was planned originally to honor him on the occasion of his 70th birthday. However, this initiative was changed suddenly and unexpectedly into a different light when we received the shocking sad news about the decease of Professor Schuëller on June 9, 2012, just three days before his 70th birthday. The news reached us on the way to a conference, where he was supposed to deliver a keynote lecture. This special issue was already in an advanced state at that point in time, Professor Schuëller being aware of the contributions. So we felt it is the best way, and it would certainly be in his consent, to proceed with this special issue and finalize it – adjusted to the new circumstances. This special issue is devoted to set a piece of memorial in the center of his community. It is compiled from representative papers related to his pioneered research. Professor Gerhart I. Schuëller remains in our memory forever as a great pioneer, colleague, mentor and friend. He has pioneered developments in the area of Computational Methods in Stochastic Mechanics and Dynamics over more than four decades. His interest covered the mathematical modeling of load and material properties, structural reliability, reliability of mechanical components, reliability-based and robust design optimization, probabilistic fatigue and fracture analysis, and its application in civil, aerospace, wind, earthquake, offshore, nuclear and mechanical engineering. Professor Schuëller’s seminal contributions have significantly shaped the development of this area with specific focus on numerically efficient Monte Carlo methods and applicability to realistic, industry-size problems. As an overall major goal he worked persistently on the transfer of stochastic simulation methods into engineering practice, which he achieved with great success in various high-profile industry collaborations and consultancy including the European Space Agency. In particular in the past decade, Professor Schuëller reinforced the knowledge and technology transfer to industry through a synthesis of his scientific developments into the general purpose software tool COSSAN-X for uncertainty quantification. With this achievement he has closed the loop from groundbreaking research in a new scientific area up to commercialization of the developed technologies. Gerhart I. Schuëller was born in Salzburg, Austria, on June 12, 1942. He studied Civil Engineering in Graz, Austria, from 1962 to 1967. His drive to step on new ground brought him to Jack Benjamin at Stanford University, USA, where he came in touch with probabilistic concepts and quickly recognized their tremendous potential in engineering problems. Gerhart I. Schuëller graduated with “Highest Distinction” from Stanford University in 1970 with a Ph.D. Thesis on “Use of Stochastic Processes to Study Force Probability Density Functions on Ocean Structures”. In the following two years as Assistant Professor at the George Washington University, USA, he worked closely with Alfred Martin Freudenthal, whose mentorship inspired and consolidated Professor Schuëller’s career in the area of stochastic mechanics further. In 1972 he moved to the Technical University of Munich, Germany, where he introduced stochastic concepts in the Civil Engineering research as Project Leader at the Center of “Structural Reliability” and contributed significantly to several large-scale research programs. In addition to these developments he completed his thesis for the degree “Dr. -Ing.habil.” in 1976. In 1977 he was scientific secretary of the 2nd International Conference on Structural Safety and Reliability (ICOSSAR’77) and contributed significantly to the establishment of ICOSSAR as a regular event since then. In 1981, Gerhart I. Schuëller was appointed as Chair Professor and Director of the Institute of Engineering Mechanics at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He developed the Institute into one of the most well-regarded and leading research hubs in stochastic mechanics in the world. Professor Schuëller influenced the international development in stochastic mechanics not only through research but also through many organizational activities with long-lasting impact. This includes his strong commitment to the development of the International Association for Structural Safety and Reliability (IASSAR) with ICOSSAR as its flagship conference. In 1989–1993 he was elected President of IASSAR, and in 1999 Professor Schuëller was appointed Executive Vice President of IASSAR. He served as Chairman of ICOSSAR’93 held in Innsbruck, and he was co-editor of ICOSSAR in 1977, 1989, 2001 and 2005. In the area of structural dynamics, Professor Schuëller was a main initiator and co-chair of the first International Conference on Structural Dynamics (EURODYN) in 1990 and became a member of the Standing Committee of the subsequent 3-annual conferences. In connection to EURODYN, he was appointed Executive Vice President of the European Association for Structural Dynamics (EASD) from 1999 to 2005 and became President of EASD in 2008. His leadership in these two major organizations, IASSAR and EASD, has shaped their profile significantly. In addition, Professor Schuëller was founding member and leader of various other organizations and initiatives. These activities also reached out to industry. As a member of the international CERRAM-Group (Consulting Engineers for Reliability and Risk Assessment and Management) he provided consulting services to major European engineering companies. Professor Schuëller is author and co-author of more than 420 papers published in various scientific journals and conference proceedings and more than 70 technical reports, editor and co-editor of three books, 11 conference proceedings and author of a Monograph on “Introduction to Structural Safety and Reliability”. He has been associated editor of the Journal of Engineering Mechanics of the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) and a member of the editorial board of many prestigious international journals, including Computers & Structures, Structural Safety, Archives of Applied Mechanics, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, Nuclear Engineering and Design, and Engineering Structures. His achievements have been honored with many prestigious awards. These include the Medaglia (Medal) Gian Galeazzo Visconti of the University of Pavia (Italy, 1985), the Science Award of the State Government of Tyrol (Austria, 1988), the Oskar–Vas-Prize of the Austrian Standards Institute (Austria, 1989), the Charles E. Schmidt Distinguished Visiting Professorship at Florida Atlantic University (USA, 12/1991, 01/2001 and 02/2004), the Corresponding Membership of the National Academy of Engineering of Argentina (elected 1993), the Max-Planck-Research Prize (Germany, 1994), the Freudenthal Ring in Gold from the International Association for Structural Safety and Reliability (1997), and the EASD Prize of the European Association of Structural Dynamics (2011). As a particular honor, Professor Schuëller received the Honorary Doctorate (Dr. -Ing.E.h.) of the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany, in 2008. These honors reflect his exceptional standing in the stochastic community and his commitment to share his seminal developments with colleagues and friends in an open manner with highest scientific and personal ethics. We thank Klaus-Jürgen Bathe, Editor of Computers & Structures, for supporting this special issue and the authors for their contributions. The assistance of the reviewers is greatly appreciated as well.

PY - 2013/9/15

Y1 - 2013/9/15

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84885190741&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.compstruc.2013.04.002

DO - 10.1016/j.compstruc.2013.04.002

M3 - Editorial in journal

AN - SCOPUS:84885190741

VL - 126

SP - 1

EP - 2

JO - Computers & structures

JF - Computers & structures

SN - 0045-7949

IS - 1

ER -