Structural Engineering Towards Evolution and Hyper-Expansion 16-18 September 2026, Incheon, Republic of Korea
The Annual Meetings
Ahead of the IABSE Congress Incheon 2026, the IABSE Annual Meetings took place from 14 to 15 September 2026 at the POSCO Convention Centre. Around 50 participants joined onsite, with many others participating online.
Meetings were held for the Permanent Committee, Executive Committee, Technical Committee, Administrative Committee, IABSE Ambassadors, National Groups, SEI Editorial Board & Correspondents, Commission 4, Young Engineers Committee, and the Scientific Committee for IABSE Symposium Guwahati 2027.
To know more about IABSE's committees and boards and their activities, click here.
Congress Report
From 16 to 18 September 2026, the IABSE Congress Incheon 2026 took place at Songdo ConvensiA, welcoming 670 participants from 43 countries, with 439 papers: 5 Keynote Lectures, 42 general sessions (272 papers), 29 special sessions (162 papers), and a Pecha Kucha session.
The Congress started with a well-attended Opening Ceremony, featuring welcome addresses by IABSE President Dr. Harshavardhan Subbarao, Organising Committee Chair Prof. Ho-Kyung Kim, and Scientific Committee Chair Prof. Wonsuk Park. The first Keynote Lecture was delivered by K.A. Jakobsen from Norway.
The three-day technical programme featured parallel sessions and four additional Keynote Lectures by Prof. Ye Xia, Prof. Changsu Shim, Prof. Daniel Straub and Prof. Maria Pina Limongelli.
The Young Engineers Programme included a Pecha Kucha session, followed in the evening by the YEP Networking Dinner, “Chimaek Night” – a lively gathering featuring Korea's popular pairing of chicken and beer and bringing together young and young-at-heart engineers.
Across all three days of the Congress, engaging discussions and presentations took place with coffee breaks and lunch sessions with traditional Korean cuisine. The Welcome Reception had a variety of finger food items and drinks, live music and speeches. The Gala Dinner took place at the Gyeongwonjae Ambassador Hotel, where all 200+ attendees enjoyed a traditional Korean cultural programme.
A Workshop and a Course took place before the Congress started:
1. Pre-Congress Workshop: Forensic Engineering Practice had 15 participants
2. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) Course had 20 participants
Following the Congress, Technical Tours were organised to the Cheongna Sky Bridge, Gimpo-Paju Tunnel, and the Underground Complex Site at Yeongdong-daero – a major five-level development beneath Seoul's Gangnam district integrating transport infrastructure with commercial, cultural and public facilities.
IABSE Awards 2026 13 November 2026, Zurich
Special Experience (Complimentary):
FATZER, in partnership with IABSE is providing a Swiss Alpine Engineering Experience on Thursday, 12 November 2026 on a first come, first served basis.
Friday, 13 November | The Gala Dinner & Awards at Lake Side
The evening will begin with an Apéro Cocktail Reception, offering guests and partners dedicated time for networking before the Gala Dinner. The Awards Ceremony will commence with the presentation of the People & Paper Awards, celebrating the individuals, researchers, and publications that continue to advance the profession. The ceremony will then continue with the Project & Technology Awards. The evening will culminate in the presentation of the Gold Star Award, IABSE's highest distinction, recognising the most outstanding project across all award categories. Presented by our Partner, FATZER, this award represents the pinnacle of engineering excellence.
Premier Sponsors are:
We look forward to welcoming you to Lake Side Zurich for the IABSE Awards & Gala Dinner 2026—an unforgettable evening dedicated to celebrating excellence and the achievements shaping the future of bridge and structural engineering.
Alert:Full-paper submission deadline is on 1 October 2026!
Keynote Speakers announced!
1. John Duntemann, USA Structural Failures and their Influence on Engineering Practice
2. Naeem Hussain, Hongkong (tbc)
3. Barbara Siebert, Germany Causes of Failures of Facades – Learning for more resilient Structures
4. Eugen Bruhwiler, Switzerland New UHPFRC technology for “upcycling” deteriorated bridges
5. Mourad M Bakhoum, Egypt Structural Engineering Codes and Standards: History, Current Status, Future Insights
6. Mangu Singh, India, structural failures in Underground construction
7. Mitsuyoshi Akiyama, Japan Toward Resilience-Based Standards for Infrastructure: Life-Cycle Design and Assessment under Extreme and Nonstationary Hazards
8. Jochen Köhler, Norway Assessment of Existing Structures – from EN 1990-2 and its Nordic Implementation to a Global Perspective
9. Laurent Rus, Spain Investigation Methodologies in Forensic Structural Engineering
Pre-Symposium Workshops
1. Conceptual Design Process in Structural Engineering
Date: 21st April 2027
Time: 8.30 AM to 6.00 PM
Venue: Mayfair Spring Valley Resort, Guwahati
Instructors:
Prof. Mike Schlaich- Partner, Schlaich Bergermann Partner (sbp), Germany & Professor Emeritus, Technical University of Berlin
Dr.Ing.Boris Reyher, - Managing Director, Schlaich Bergermann and Partner (sbp)
Er. V N Heggade,- Founder & CEO, DECon Complete Solutions, India
2. Performance-Based Seismic Design (PBSD) for Buildings and Bridges
Date: 21st April 2027
Time: 8.30 AM to 6.00 PM
Venue: Mayfair Spring Valley Resort, Guwahati
Instructors:
Prof. Yogendra Singh- Professor, Department of Earthquake Engineering, IIT Roorkee
Prof. Dipti Ranjan Sahoo- Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Delhi
Mr. Alok Bhowmick, B&S Engineering Consultants Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
Prof. P.C. Ashwin Kumar, Asst. Prof., Dept. of Earthquake Engineering, IIT Roorkee
Mr. Tajul Islam Research Scholar, Department of Earthquake Engineering IIT Roorkee, And CEO, Realm Risk NG Pvt. Ltd.
Call for Abstracts extended until 30 September 2026: Click Here
If you have not submitted your abstract yet, take this opportunity to contribute original work addressing the Congress theme “Shaping the Future of Structural Engineering: Human-Centred Design, Sustainability and Innovation” and the topics listed above. Contributions may present scientific advances, practical applications, case studies, innovative design solutions, monitoring and assessment methods, digital tools, sustainability-oriented approaches, or interdisciplinary perspectives relevant to structural and bridge engineering.
The Technical Committee (TC) promotes, co-ordinates and assesses the activities of all technical groups within IABSE. Below you shall find a list of recent TC activities. To know more about the various Technical Groups please click here. For Task Groups please click here.
Inspection and monitoring are important for ensuring safety of bridges. Chair: Fengqiao Zhang, The Netherlands
Inspection and monitoring are important for ensuring the safety of bridges. However, measured values are subject to different types of uncertainty, which may arise from sensor deployment, data interpretation, environment, and the spatial variability of material properties. These uncertainties may influence the structural safety assessment.
Contact:technical@iabse.org
IABSE Congress Ghent 2025 Proceedings
The Essence of Structural Engineering for Society
ISBN: 978-3-85748-210-6
Call for Reviewers – Structural Engineering International
Structural Engineering International (SEI) is looking for volunteers from the IABSE community (both members and non-members) who are experts in their fields and willing to contribute to the peer-review process of the journal. We are seeking reviewers for both Technical Reports and Scientific Papers, and welcome colleagues across the broad range of disciplines covered by SEI (all structures, all materials). If you are interested in contributing as a reviewer, please email Eva Lantsoght, Laurent Rus, and Brindarica Bose, at bose@iabse.org, indicating whether you would like to review Technical Reports, Scientific Papers, or both, and including your email address, affiliation, and main field(s) of expertise. We will use this information to expand and strengthen our reviewer database and to better match manuscripts with appropriate experts.
Young Engineers Mentorship recording is now online
Vacancy and Application invited for IABSE's Executive Director.
IABSE seeks a globally minded executive leader to serve as Executive Director and lead the Secretariat.
The next Executive Director will guide IABSE through an evolving professional landscape marked by digital transformation, infrastructure renewal, sustainability priorities, resilience challenges, global talent development, and changing member expectations.
The successful candidate will help position IABSE for long-term sustainability and relevance. This role combines strategy, governance, operations, finance, membership development, publications, conferences, stakeholder engagement, and international representation. This is expected to be a full-time position.
The National Groups (NG) are, within their field of influence, responsible for providing active support to the Association's objectives. They support IABSE in particular through the nomination of qualified members for election to the different committees of the Association. For upcoming events: Click Here
Colombia
As reported by the Colombian National Group, a group of experts departed on 29 August 2026 from Medellin for Pereira to support the Colombian National Group after the devastating earthquake, organised by the Municipality of Medellin and coordinated by DAGRD, the Administrative Department for Risk and Disaster Management of Medellin City. The group included 6 engineers from Mexico, led by IABSE member Prof. José Manuel Jara.
Switzerland
The Swiss National Group organised on 5 and 6 June 2026, a tour with the theme, ‘Viennese Engineering Architecture - from Gothic Sacred Buildings to the Modern Skyscraper’, which was a cooperation between the Gesellschaft für Ingenieurbaukunst and IABSE, and organised by Prof. Dr. A. Taras, ETH Zurich, read more here.
Romania
Change of leadership from Prof. Corneliu Bob to Prof. Sorin Dan. We wish the National Group best wishes and thank Prof. Corneliu Bob for his dedication and commitment as a long-serving National Group Chair.
The Netherlands
An event based on the topic, 'Essence of Structural Engineering for Society at Eindhoven, ' will be held on 26 November 2026 at TU Eindhoven.
