The inaugural meeting of the Center of Excellence in Structural Health Monitoring is scheduled for Thursday and Friday April 12 and 13, 2007, at the Nittany Lion Inn on the Penn State University Park Campus. The Center of Excellence in Structural Health Monitoring is funded through the Ben Franklin Technology Devleopment Association. The Center goals include spurring the research and development of new technologies to improve public safety; transfer technology; create new high tech job markets for Pennsylvania; and workforce pool development.

Keynote speakers for this event are Professor Fu-Keuo Chang of Stanford University, Richard Ross of NASA Langley's Structures and Materials group, and Professor Aditi Chattopadhyay of Arizona State University.

The meeting will showcase current structural health monitoring research across Penn State including activities in the Departments of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Aerospace Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Food Science, and the Applied Research Laboratory. Participants will have an opportunity to learn about the state of the art and future directions of structural health monitoring.

For additional information, contact center director Dr. Clifford J. Lissenden at 814.863.5754.