Wessex Institute of Technology

Wessex Institute of Technology

Chairman	Carlos A. Brebbia
Location	Ashurst, New Forest, England, United Kingdom
Website	http://www.wessex.ac.uk/

The Wessex Institute of Technology (usually referred to as just Wessex Institute or WIT) is an educational and research institute offering higher degrees. WIT is located at Ashurst Lodge in the New Forest National Park, in the South of England.^[1]

The overall aim of the Wessex Institute is to develop a series of knowledge transfer mechanisms, particularly directed towards the exchange of information between academics and professional users within industry. This is achieved through a range of activities.

Professor Carlos Brebbia established the Wessex Institute of Technology in 1986 which succeeded the Computational Mechanics Institute formed in 1981.^[2]

The Wessex Institute’s activities are divided into 3 core areas: Research, Conferences and Publishing.^[3]

Location

WIT Campus at Ashurst Lodge

Ashurst Lodge is the home of the Wessex Institute and is located in the New Forest, a renowned National Park. The New Forest is situated in central southern England, 100km from London. Spreading over nearly 400 square kilometres, this National Park is home to picturesque villages, unspoiled scenery, abundant wildlife and many attractions for visitors. The New Forest was established as a royal hunting ground by the Norman King William I, and 900 years later, the New Forest is still owned by the Crown. Local commoners have the right to graze their ponies, cattle and pigs on forest land where they wander freely. The Forest is unarguably recognised as one of the most unique wilderness areas in Western Europe, where many landscapes have remained virtually unchanged for many centuries.

Board of Directors

Professor Carlos Brebbia is Chairman of the Wessex Institute. The board of Directors are as follows:^[4]

• Professor Geoffrey Broadbent - University of Portsmouth, UK
• Professor Alex Cheng^[5] - University of Mississippi, USA
• Professor Jerry J Connor - MIT, USA
• Professor Patrick de Wilde - University of Brussels, Belgium
• Professor Daniele de Wrachien - University of Milan, Italy
• Professor Santiago Hernandez - University of A Coruña, Spain
• Professor Ted Hromadka^[6] - West Point Academy, USA
• Professor Stefano Mambretti - Politecnico di Milano, Italy
• Professor George Pinder^[7] - University of Vermont, USA
• Professor Dragan Poljak - University of Split, Croatia
• Professor Matiur Rahman^[8][9] - Dalhousie University, Canada
• Professor Eckart Schnack^[10] - University of Karlsruhe, Germany
• Professor Stavros Syngellakis - Wessex Institute, UK
• Professor Antonio Tadeu - University of Coimbra, Portugal

Research

The Wessex Institute of Technology research programmes have been and continue to be funded by Industry and Research Organisations. ^[11][12][13]

Aerial view of the Ashurst Lodge campus.

Collaboration agreements include:

• Universita di Siena, Italy^[14]
• Universidad de Granada, Spain^[15]
• Universita di Pisa, Italy^[16]
• University of Castilla-La Mancha^[17]
• UNICAMP, Brazil^[18]
• Universita di Milano, Italy^[19]
• Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
• Universidad de Alicante, Spain
• University of the West of England, UK

Awards

An annual event during the Wessex Institute of Technology conference programme is the awarding of the Prigogine Medal. The Prigogine Medal, established in memory of Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, has been awarded annually since 2004 in collaboration with the University of Siena.^[4][20][21]

Prigogine Medal

Prigogine Medal Winners:

• 2004 Sven Jorgensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark ^[22]
• 2005 Enzo Tiezzi, University of Siena, Italy^[23]
• 2006 Bernard Patten, University of Georgia, USA^[24]
• 2007 Robert Ulanowicz, University of Maryland, USA^[25]
• 2008 Ioannis Antoniou, Greece^[26]
• 2009 Emilio del Giudice, University of Milan, Italy^[27]
• 2010 Felix Müller, University of Kiel, Germany^[28]
• 2011 Larissa Brizhik, National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine^[29]
• 2012 Gerald Pollack, University of Washington, USA^[30]
• 2013 Vladimir Voeikov, Lomonsov Moscow State University, Russia^[31]
• 2014 Mae-Wan Ho, The Institute of Science In Society, UK^[32]
• 2015 Bai-Lian Larry Li, University of California, USA^[33]

George Green Medal

The George Green Medal

The first George Green Medal was awarded at the 37th International Conference on Boundary Elements and other Mesh Reduction Methods held in 2014. This was a joint initiative by the University of Mississippi, in association with the Wessex Institute of Technology. The importance of Green's work cannot be over-emphasised, particularly his development of his functions which set the basis for boundary elements. Very little is known about George Green - there is not even a picture of him and hence the Medal can only depict his windmill near Nottingham, relating to his trade. Green was totally self-taught and published a few copies of his most famous works on a subscription basis only.

It is impossible to understand how George Green was able to acquire his knowledge in a backwater place of England, as Nottingham was at that time. He only had access to a local library and distributed his work around sponsors who were unable to fully appreciate the importance of his work.

The second George Green Medal was awarded in 2015 to Professor Edward Kansa at the 38th International Conference on Boundary Elements and other Mesh-Reduction Methods.^[34]

Conferences

WIT Conference

The Wessex Institute of Technology organises a programme of around 25 conferences each year held in many different locations in association with other organisations and universities.^[2][4]

The WIT Conference Programme continues to grow and serves as an ideal medium to achieve the Wessex Institute's International knowledge transfer objectives. The Institute is committed to acting as a link between professional and academic bodies and encouraging trans-disciplinary research.

The 2016 WIT Conference Programme consists of the following 25 conferences;

• 1st International Conference on Big Data^[35]
• 3rd International Conference on Defence Sites: Heritage and Future^[36]
• 1st International Conference on Islamic Heritage Architecture and Art^[37]
• 7th International Conference on Sustainable Tourism^[38]
• 14th International Conference on Structures Under Shock and Impact^[39]
• 10th International Conference on Risk Analysis^[40]
• The New Forest Conference on Complex Systems 2016^[41]
• 8th International Conference on Waste Management and the Environment^[42]
• 3rd International Conference on Environmental and Economic Impact on Sustainable Development^[43]
• 24th International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution^[44]
• 22nd International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment^[45]
• 3rd International Conference on Design, Construction, Maintenance, Monitoring and Control of Urban Water Systems^[46]
• 13th International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Water Pollution^[47]
• 5th International Conference on Flood Risk Management and Response^[48]
• 11th International Conference on Urban Regeneration and Sustainability^[49]
• 6th International Conference on Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature^[50]
• 15th International Conference on Railway Engineering Design and Operation^[51]
• 11th International Conference on Advances in Fluid Mechanics^[52]
• 2nd International Conference on Energy Production and Management in the 21st Century^[53]
• 14th International Conference on Simulation and Experiments in Heat Transfer and its Applications^[54]
• 8th International Conference on Comparing Design in Nature with Science and Engineering^[55]
• The 2016 International Conference on High Performance and Optimum Design of Structures and Materials^[56]
• 39th International Conference on Boundary Elements and other Mesh Reduction Methods^[57]
• 5th International Conference on Mobile, Adaptable and Rapidly Assembled Structures^[58]
• 8th International Conference on Sustainable Development and Planning^[59]

Publishing - WIT Press

WIT Press logo

View of Ashurst Lodge, where the WIT Press UK office is based.

WIT Press is the publishing service of the Wessex Institute of Technology. Based at Ashurst Lodge, it publishes conference proceedings, journals and a number of specialised research monographs and edited works.^[60][61]

Conference Proceedings are published within one of the Transaction series and are archived online in the WIT Press eLibrary. The eLibrary contains over 30,000 peer reviewed papers of which all from 1993 to 2016 are open access.^[62][63][64]

The Transaction Series titles are:

• WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment^[65]
• WIT Transactions on the Built Environment^[66]
• WIT Transactions on Engineering Sciences^[67]

WIT Press produces 8 International Journals:

• International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning^[68]
• International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics^[69]
• International Journal of Safety and Security Engineering^[70]
• International Journal of Computational Methods and Experimental Measurements^[71]
• International Journal of Energy Production and Management^[72]
• International Journal of Transport Development and Integration^[73]
• International Journal of Heritage Architecture^[74]
• International Journal of Environmental Impacts^[75]

Design and Nature

The Wessex Institute of Technology organises a conference on Design and Nature,^[76] whilst WIT Press publishes the International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics,^[69] both of which have attracted attention for the subject matter of some of the papers presented and published.

As a result of reaction to previous papers presented on the subject the editors added this statement to papers published by A.C. McIntosh in Volume 4 of the International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics in 2009.^{[77] [78]}

"This paper presents a different paradigm than the traditional view. It is, in the view of the Journal, an exploratory paper that does not give a complete justification for the alternative view. The reader should not assume that the Journal or the reviewers agree with the conclusions of the paper. It is a valuable contribution that challenges the conventional vision that systems can design and organise themselves. The Journal hopes that the paper will promote the exchange of ideas in this important topic. Comments are invited in the form of ‘Letters to the Editor."

Contributions to its 2004 International conference programme included a joint paper by Scott A. Minnich and Stephen C. Meyer reiterating claims disputing evolution of the bacterial flagellum.^[79] The paper was cited in the landmark Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District legal case, being the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design.

Doubts have been raised as to whether proper peer review has been followed for these conferences, this issue was, in particular, tested for the VIDEA conference in 1995, where several nonsensical abstracts were provisionally accepted for developing into a full paper.^{[80] [81]} Neither these abstracts nor any papers were ever published.^[82]

References

External links

• Wessex Institute of Technology Website - wessex.ac.uk
• WIT Press Publishing Website - witpress.com
• WIT Press eLibrary Website - witpress.com/elibrary
• WIT Press Journals Website - witpress.com/journals

Coordinates: 50°52′44″N 1°31′33″W / 50.8789°N 1.5259°W / 50.8789; -1.5259