The International Society for Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (ISSMO) was founded in October 1991. Today, ISSMO boasts a membership of approximately two thousand individuals from over 50 countries worldwide across its three geographical regions of Europe-Africa, Asia-Australia, and North/South America. This diverse membership includes experts, researchers, and practitioners who are dedicated to advancing the field of structural and multidisciplinary optimization across a broad range of industries.
The objectives of ISSMO are:
- to stimulate and promote research into all aspects of the optimal design of structures as well as multidisciplinary optimization, where the involved disciplines deal with solids, fluids or other field problems;
- to encourage practical applications of optimization methods and the development of corresponding software across all technological and industrial sectors;
- to foster the exchange of ideas amongst diverse fields contributing to structural and multidisciplinary optimization;
- to provide a framework for the organization of meetings and other means for the dissemination of knowledge and technologies on structural and multidisciplinary optimization; and
- to promote teaching of structural and multidisciplinary optimization at tertiary institutions.
One of the aims of ISSMO is to bring together researchers and practitioners in the field by means of international meetings having high scientific standards, up-to-date conference facilities, and affordable costs to all members of the Society. Along these lines, ISSMO has held biennial World Congresses of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization since 1995: WCSMO1 was held in Goslar, Germany, 1995; WCSMO2 in Zakopane, Poland, 1997; WCSMO3 in Buffalo, NY, USA, 1999; WCSMO4 in Dalian, China, 2001; WCSMO5 in Lido di Jesolo, Italy, 2003; WCSMO6 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2005; WCSMO7 in Seoul, Korea, 2007; WCSMO8 in Lisbon, Portugal, 2009; WCSMO9 in Shizuoka, Japan, 2011; WCSM10 in Orlando, US, 2011; WCSMO11 in Sydney, Australia; 2015; WCSMO12 in Braunschweig, Germany, 2017; WCSMO13 in Beijing, China, 2019; WCSMO14 in Boulder CO, USA, 2021; WCSMO15 in Cork, Ireland, 2023; and the forthcoming WCSMO-16 in Kobe, Japan 2025. Please click “WCSMO” under the menu “Events” link above for more information about the previous WCSMOs.
ISSMO is an Affiliated Organization of IUTAM (the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics).
ISSMO co-organized with IUTAM a Mini-Symposium on Structural Optimization at the 19th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ICTAM) held in Kyoto in 1996. Since then, the ICTAM conferences have included a Pre-Nominated Session on Structural Optimization (20th ICTAM, Chicago, 2000; 21st ICTAM, Warsaw, Poland, 2004; 22nd ICTAM, Adelaide, Australia, 2008; 23rd ICTAM in Beijing, China, 2012; 24th ICTAM in Montreal, Canada, 2016; 25th ICTAM online, Milano Italy 2021; and 26th ICTAM in Daegu, Korea, 2024).
Already since 1994, ISSMO has endorsed biennial Symposia on Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization held jointly with AIAA (Panama City, FL, 1994; Seattle, WA, 1996; St. Louis, MO, 1998; Long Beach, CA, 2000; Atlanta, GA, 2002; Albany, NY, 2004; Portsmouth, VA, 2006; Victoria, BC, Canada, 2008; Fort Worth, TX, 2010). ISSMO also supports other regional biennial conference, such as the Asian Conference on Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (ACSMO) (Nagasaki, Japan 2016; Dalian, China 2018; online 2020; Matsue, Japan 2022; Zhengzhou, China 2024) over the years since its predecessor CJK-OSM in 1999-2014. In addition, ISSMO has endorsed a large number of other scientific meetings and conferences with other non-profit organizations.
The Journal of the Society is Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (SMO).
The aim of SMO is to provide a vehicle for disseminating information about all aspects of structural and multidisciplinary optimization through a single medium, which has obvious advantages for research, literature search and society activities. Information is available by clicking on the “ISSMO Publications” link under the “Publications” link above.
ISSMO/Springer Prize.
Any paper presented at WCSMO by a “young” researcher (under the age of 35) can be nominated for the ISSMO/Springer Prize by any participant of that Congress. The work must be primarily or entirely the young researcher’s own, though a supervisor may also be listed as a co-author. However, the nominee must be the first author of the paper. The prize-winning paper will be selected by the ISSMO Executive Committee. The nomination, including a 50-word justification, are to be submitted to the e-mail address of the ISSMO Secretary General immediately after the WCSMO. For the previous awards, see the “ISSMO Prize” link under the “Awards” link above.
ISSMO Haftka Young Investigator Award
This award aims to recognize outstanding researchers early in their careers for the impactful achievements and promising groundbreaking research in the field of structural and multidisciplinary optimization. The award is named in honor of the foundational research contributions of Professor Raphael T. Haftka and recognizes his passion for mentoring young researchers. ISSMO Members who are within 10 years of the conferral date of their doctoral degree (with possible additional time added for family and medical leave as appropriate) may be nominated by any other ISSMO Full Member.
ISSMO Fellowship Award
The inaugural prestigious ISSMO Fellowship Award recognizes the eminent ISSMO members with distinguished track records, who have made significant contributions to the advancement of structural and multidisciplinary optimization. This may include their original research and impactful publications, the translation of research into practice, their leadership and excellence in pedagogy, mentoring, as well as professional service in the Society. Nominees should be currently active in making both technical contributions to ISSMO and participating is its activities.
ISSMO Members
A directory of ISSMO “Members” with postal and e-mail addresses is available for members (log-in required) by clicking on the “Members Area” link above. Full membership requires participation in at least one of the World Congresses of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization. If you wish to see how you may become an associate member of ISSMO, click first the “Membership” link above and then click on “Join ISSMO”. There is no separate membership fee, but 10% of the registration fee for ISSMO WCSMO is used as a membership fee. Members of ISSMO will be able to register for the ISSMO co-sponsored conferences, such as AIAA MAO, ASME IDETC/CIE, and ASMO, at the member pricing registration fee.
The day-to-day operation of ISSMO is handled by the Executive Committee, which is elected every four years at a WCSMO. The current EC members (see the “Executive Committee” link under the “About ISSMO” link above) were elected at the WCSMO15 (June 2023), who will serve until June 2027.