Vol.3, No 14, 2003 pp. 781-784
PREFACE
This special issue of the Journal is dedicated to Nonlinear Mechanics and
Nonlinear Sciences with Applications. It resulted in organization of Sixth
International Symposium on Nonlinear Mechanics Nonlinear Sciences and Applications
Niš 2003 (The 6th ISNM NSA NIŠ'2003) and by invitation papers and by call
for contributed papers in area of nonlinear mechanics as well as of multidisciplinary
problems containing common models classified as nonlinear sciences and
applications.
The issue contains papers in the area of Mechanics, Mathematics, Electrical
Engineering and Applications in Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering
and Electrical Engineering, and also in fracture and damage mechanics and
biomechanics.
This symposium, entitled Sixth International Symposium on Nonlinear
Mechanics Nonlinear Sciences and Applications Niš 2003 (The 6th ISNM NSA
NIŠ'2003), as was the case with the previous one, entitled 'Nonlinear Sciences
at the Threshold of the Third Millenium', is organized with the wish to
unite in a single symposium, on the basis of the Mathematical Phenomenology
of Mihajlo Petrovic Alas, quite disparate sciences with the aim of integrating
the knowledge of the participants of our symposium. This is a serious and
long-term task of science.
How did it all start? It started here, at the Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering, University of Niš.
Prof. dr Danilo P. Rasković (Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and BS
in mathematics), the first head of the Chair for Mechanics and Automatics,
while teaching mechanics at the Department for Mechanical Engineering at
the newly founded Faculty of Technical sciences, directed his youngest
and most talented students towards studying nonlinear oscillations and
nonlinear mechanics. Thereafter, he initiated a cooperation with the academician
Jury Aleksejevitch Mitropolsky and a leading school of nonlinear mechanics,
asymptotic methods and nonlinear oscillations at the Institute for Mathematics
in Kiev. That is how a centre for nonlin-ear mechanics was established
at the Chair for Mechanics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Niš. They
were supported by the Institute for Mathematics – SANU from Belgrade and
by the scientist from all the Universities in Yugoslavia, especially Universities
in Belgrade and Novi Sad. The organization of symposiums on nonlinear sciences
followed.
The first symposium on nonlinear mechanics - Nonlinear Dynamics, organized
by YUSM and Serbian Society for Mechanics, was held in Arandjelovac. Prof.
Jury Aleksejevitch Mi-tropolskiy gave the invited plenary lecture. All
the members of the Chair for Mechanics and the Chair for Hydraulic Engineering
of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering University of Niš took part in
this and other symposiums; they were co-organizers as well.
The Second Yugoslav Symposium on Nonlinear Mechanics entitled: "The
First Yugoslav Conference on Nonlinear Deterministic and Stochastic Processes
in Dynamical Systems with Applications YCNP Niš'91", organized by the Faculty
of Mechanical Engineering was held in Niš. The Chairman of the Scientific
Committee was Prof. dr Veljko Vujičić, while the Chairman of the Organizing
Committee was Prof. Katica (Stevanović) Hedrih. Proceedings of Abstracts
was printed; the papers and invited lectures which were approved were printed
in the first and the following issues of the University Journal – Facta
Universitatis, new Series – Mechanics, Automatic Control and Robotics.
This Series was the third Series, which was being published, besides the
Series Mathematics, Informatics and Electronics, and Energetics. William
Nash, Kazuyuki Yagasaki ..., gave the invited lectures, at this international
sympo-sium.
The invited plenary lectures were given by the following Yugoslav scientists:
Veljko A. Vujičić, Vladan Djordjević, Ljubomir Grujić, Božidar Vujanović,
and other..
Prof. dr Slobododan Laković, the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering Univer-sity of Niš and a member of the Organizing Committee,
has significantly contributed to the success of this symposium.
The Third Yugoslav Symposium on Nonlinear Mechanics was held in the
form of a Minisymposium, as a part of the XXII Yugoslav Conference on Mechanics
in Niš in 1995. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Niš, with co-organization
by the Faculty of Civil Engi-neering organized this Congress as well.
The Chairman of the Organizing Committee was Prof. Katica (Stevanović)
Hedrih; Prof. dr Zoran Boricic, the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
was very hospitable. Academician Vladan Djordjević, the President of YUSM
has contributed to the successful organization of this Congress and the
Minisymposium. The Chairman of the Scientific Com-mittee was Prof. dr Veljko
Vujičić. Professors Yu. A. Mitropolskiy, V.V. Rumyantsev, Felix Chernousko,
Anatoliy Martinyuk, Valentina Filchakova, Dan Stamatiu, ... were guest
at this symposium.
The Fourth Symposium on Nonlinear Mechanics was held in 1997, again
in the form of a Minisymposium, as a part of the XIII Yugoslav Congress
on Theoretical and Applied Me-chanics. This Congress, held in the Congress
Center – Zvezda in Vrnjacka Banja, was organ-ized by the Yugoslav Society
for Mechanics. The organization of this Symposium was helped by the Institute
for Mathematics – SANU and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Niš
and in Belgrade.
The Chairman of the Scientific Committee was the academician Nikola
Hajdin, and the Chairman of the Organizing Committee was Prof. Katica Hedrih.
Professors Anthony Kounadis, Giuseppe Rega, Anton Baltov, ... were guest
at this symposium.
The Fifth Symposium on Nonlinear Mechanics- Nonlinear Sciences at the
Threshold of the Third Millenium was organized with the wish for it to
become a tradition and to gather the connoisseurs of nonlinear phenomenology
from disparate sciences and dynamic systems and for it to become renown
all over the world.
The Chairmen of the Scientific Committee were academicians Jury A.
Mitropolsky, V. M. Matrosov and V. Vujičić, and the Chairmen of the Organizing
Committee was Prof. Katica Hedrih and Prof. Z. Boričić. Academicians N.
Hajdin, V.V. Rumyantsev and M. Prvanović and Professors D.S. Sophianopoulos,
G.T.Michaltos, Ji Huan He, I. Finogenko, P.S. Kra-sil'nikov ..... were
guests at this symposium.
The year of the Fifth Symposium was the year of the 10 th Jubilante
issue of the Univer-sity Journal – Facta Universitatis, new Series – Mechanics,
Automatic Control and Robot-ics. These symposiums and the Journal Facta
Universitatis are a permanent characteristic of the University of Niš,
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Niš and scientific achievements of
Yugoslav and Serbian scientists in international relations.
Katica (Stevanović) Hedrih
Editor-in-Chief
