I C U SNewsletter
Volume 14

Number

4

Jan. to Mar. 2015

International Center for Urban Safety Engineering
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

SATREPS Myanmar: officially launched
By Kimiro Meguro
Director / Professor, ICUS
The University of Tokyo
We are pleased to announce that
SATREPS entitled “Development of
a comprehensive disaster resiliencesystem and collaboration platform
in Myanmar” is officially started
from April 2015 for 5 years after thesigning of two contracts between
Myanmar and Japan: Collaborative
Research Arrangement (CRA) andRecord of Discussion (R/D) ‒see
ICUS Newsletter Vol. 14-1 and14-2 for progress and details. A
signing ceremony of CRA was heldat Yangon Technological University(YTU) on 10th March 2015, and
CRA was successfully established
as of the date between YTU andThe University of Tokyo (UTokyo).
I signed as a representative of
ICUS, UTokyo (Figure1). R/Dwill be established on April 9th
2015, between the Departmentof Technology Promotion and
Coordination (DTPC), Ministry of
Science and Technology (MOST),and Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA). We are gratefulfor cooperation from not only
Myanmar but also relevant Japaneseorganizations involved in the project

Figure 1: Signing ceremony of CRA

including JICA and Japan Scienceand Technology Agency (JST). We
are now ready to tackle the issues indisaster risk reduction in Myanmar
through the project.
In response to the official startof the project, an environment to
conduct the joint research activities
has been set up steadily. Three rooms
in YTU, a project office and a RS &GIS laboratory including a server
and a storage rooms will be preparedin a building which is estimated to becompleted by July 2015 supported
by ODA (Figure 2). The RS &GIS room will be used to conduct
lectures and hands-on trainings for
not only YTU’s graduate students
but also for faculty members of
YTU, engineers, and officers fromnational and local governments
and relevant organizations. This is
one of the project’s outcomes that
fosters human resources who cancontribute to develop Myanmar
especially in disaster risk reduction.
From now on, we will startgathering data and information toestablish a database as a basis of the
project outcome, especially in three
categories (Figure 3). Details of theeach research group’s activities are
as follows:“Water and river environment”
research group focuses on the Bago
River basin and gathers hydrological,
meteorological and topography
data from relevant ministries anddepartments: Irrigation Department(ID), Ministry of Agriculture andIrrigation (MOAI), Department ofMetrology and Hydrology (DMH),
Ministry of Transport (MOT), andDirectorate of Water Resources
and Improvement of River Systems(DWIR),
MOT.
Meanwhile,
unavailable data will be gatheredfrom field observations and surveys;
meteorological observation andwater gauges are planned to beinstalled. Eventually the collected
data will be accumulated into the
Data Integration and Analysis
System (DIAS) as an information
infrastructure.
“Infrastructure, buildings, andtopography”
researchgroup
collects infrastructures’ informationfrom relevant ministries anddepartments: Department of Bridges(DOB). MOT, and Yangon City
Development Committee (YCDC).
Besides, the group inspects andPage 2

Figure 2: Project office and appearance of the building

Figure 3: Research flow of the SATREPS projectmonitors the deterioration ofexisting infrastructure and buildings.
Eventually, appropriate techniquesforsustainableinfrastructure
management in Myanmar will be
proposed. The obtained data will
be compiled into a database withother data including high-resolution
satellite images, past disasterrecords, land use change, groundcondition, etc.
“Traffic and crowd flow” researchgroup attempts to analyze anddetermine real-time road traffic
network and crowd flow in Yangon
City associated with Myanmar
Engineering Society (MES) and Ma
Hta Tha, public transport regulatory
body in Yangon. Necessary data,
communication
logs(Erlangdata) and probe cars, will becollected from Myanmar Posts
and Telecommunications (MPT),
and mobile sensors, respectively.
The gathering of probe car data
will start with the installation of

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 14, No.4

about 50 smart phones to public
transportation, especially buses.
Other than the above mentioned
group activities, we aim toestablish a center tentatively named“Research Center for Urban Safety”
at YTU. The center will have afunction of an international platform
to share and implement our researchoutcomes among government,
academia and industry including
Myanmar and Japan. Besides, asa part of the activities, we plan to
conduct an annual international
symposium to present outcomes ofthe project, joint research activities
between YTU and UTokyo. In
2015, we plan to co-organize thesymposium at YTU on 12th and13th December in collaboration
with YTU, MOST, and the other
JICA Project “Enhancement ofEngineering Higher Education in
Myanmar (EEHE)”. We will keep
you updated about the progress of
all SATREPS activities.

1st & 2nd SIP seminars held in Bangkok and Hanoi
By Dr. Koji Matsumoto

Infrastructure asset management
is one of the research projects of
the Cross-ministerial Strategic
Innovation Promotion Program(SIP), which began in October
2014, steered by the Cabinet Officeof the Japanese Government. ICUS
participates in the SIP projectof “Comprehensive research on
development of road infrastructure
management
cycle
and
its
application in Japan and abroad”.
One of the most primary issues ofthe project is to implement Japanesetechnologies of infrastructure asset
management in other countries,
especially within the Asian region.
However, it is not easy to export
our technologies directly because
each country has its own situationsuch as finantial and environmental
problems. Thus, it is necessary
to firstly understand the situationand the problems of each country.
We need to consider how weshould custamize our technologies

Dr. Nagai, ICUS

according to the situation andproblems.
Concequently, the 1st and 2nd
SIP international seminars on
infrastructure asset management
were held in Bangkok and Hanoi
on 11th and 17th March, 2015,
respectively. As ICUS was one of themain organizers, its representatives
participated in both seminars.
Presenters of the seminars were:
two Japanese companies and three
Thai government agencies in the 1st,and one Japanese company and one
Vietnam government agency in the
2nd. Japanese and local universities
in each country were also presented.
The total number of participants
were 139 and 142 in 1st and 2nd
seminars, respectively. Majorityof them were from government
agencies and private companies(Fig.1)
Both seminars were successfully
concluded with active exchange of
information and opinions among

participants. The 2nd one in Hanoi
was broadcasted by local TV(HANOITV). It was reported thatthe seminar was meaningful for
Vietnamese.
JP Univ. 7 (5%)
JP Univ. 7 (5%)
JP Co.10 (7%)
JP Co.10 (7%)

TH Co.
TH(16%)
Co.
22
22 (16%)

Others 2 (1%)
Others 2 (1%)
TH govt.
TH govt.
agencyagency54(39%)
54 (39%)
TH Univ.
THUniv.
44 (32%)44 (32%)JP Univ. 4 (3%)
JP Univ. 4 (3%)
JP Co. 9 (6%)
JP Co. 9 (6%)

Others 5 (4%)
Others 5 (4%)

VN Co.
Co.
39VN
(27%)
39 (27%)

VN govt.
VN govt.
agencyagency43(30%)
43 (30%)VN Univ.
VN(30%)Univ.
42
42 (30%)Figure 1: B reakdown of the participants’affiliation(top: Thailand, bottom: Vietnam)

Expressway Authority of Thailand

Audience

Snapshots of the 1st SIP seminar held in Bangkok, Thailand

Directorate for Roads of Vietnam

Audience

Dr. Nagai interviewed by HANOITV

Snapshots of the 2nd SIP seminar held in Hanoi, Vietnam

ICUS Newsletter Jan. to Mar. 2015

Page 3

Poverty and Flood Survey in Myamar
By Ms. Yukiko Tahira*

Myanmar is at a high risk fromnatural disasters, although it has
high potential for economic growth,and rapid development is expected
to occur in the near future. In theaftermath of Cyclone Nargis in
2008, the Myanmar Government
began to estblish a new disastermanagement system, with relevantlaws and regulations followinginternational frameworks. However,
the actual situation and damage at a
community level has not yet to berevealed due to the lack of available
data and statistics in the country.
In order to clarify details
concerning the community-level
flood management, we conducteda preliminary survey and inteviews
with local residents in Bago
township, Bago region in Myanmar
between 1-4 Januray 2015, withthe aim of collecting information
on poverty and flood situation.
An Asian Institute of Technology(AIT) Myanmar graduate student
and I conducted the interviews
using a questionaire regarding

flood victims’ household economic
status, their damage, support they
could receive, evacuation behavior
and their coping strategy during theflood that occured 3 months prior to
our visit.
In addition, we visited several
ward offices and government
istitutions, such as the Departmentof Meteorology and Hydropology(DMH) to iterview officials.
The results of this survey will be
published in an academic journal
with comparative results withcentral Thailand.
* : Resional Network Office for
Urban Safety (RNUS, AIT)

Flood came suddenly and reached at thislevel. There was no early warning before.

Interview with Indian Burmese family

Implementation Mechanism of Structural Assessments
for Readymade Garments (RMG) Sectors
By Prof. Mehedi Ahmed Ansary

The common steps of structuralassessment for RMG factories byteam of expert are: visual inspection
for identification of existence of any
distress in building structures, review
of structural design drawings andsoil investigation reports to assess
the current use and loading patterns(if available), and assessment ofimmediate threat of collapse.
Firstly, the columns for brickor stone aggregate concrete in
the buildings were checked andPage 4

recorded. In case of unknown
column material, brick aggregate
was assumed. For initial assessmentof the column, equivalent concrete
strengths for stone aggregate concreteand brick aggregate concrete wereassumed 16.3 MPa (2,365 psi) and14.1 MPa (2,045 psi), respectively.
These two values were calculated
by eq. (1) using the cylinder test
results conducted at BUET Concrete
Laboratory between 2003 and 2009
shown in Figure 1.

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 14, No.4

fceq = Mean of the dataset – 1.34 xStandard deviation of the data set................................................. (1)Then the order of reinforcement
is checked with a ferroscanner.
In case of unknown number ofreinforcement bar, it was assumed
1%.
For the assessment of immediate
threat of collapse from current
building use, the surveyors
highlighted key columns and carriedfy = assume 40 ksi (276 MPa) for
steel before 2005 and 60 ksi(414 MPa) for steel after 2005(a) Cylinder test results for stone aggregate(b) Cylinder test results for brick aggregate

Figure 1 Cylinder test results obtained by
BUET between 2003 and 2009

Figure 2: Core tests performed at BUET
Laboratory between 2013 and 2015

out simple calculations of working
stresses to find out Factor of Safety(FOS). FOS is Column Ultimate
Strength (CUS) divided by the
Column Working Stress (CWS),
where CUS was calculated using eq.
(2) according to BNBC (1993), andCWS were calculated comparing
data set values and trigger points
developed.
Pn = 0.8ϕ [0.85f́ c (Ag ‒ Ast) + fyAst]................................................. (2)where,
Pn = CUSΦ = strength reduction factor (= 0.7)f́c = compressive (cylinder) strengthof concrete
Ag = gross area of concrete section
Ast = area of reinforcement

Based on FOS, four color codes
have been proposed to be used
for indicating the required actions
within certain time frame. If any
factory is notified as hazardous
after the assessment, the respective
assessment teams inform the review
panel of Bangladesh Government
about the factories to carry on further
assessment by inspection team andtake final decision regarding theclosure of the factory.
Requirementof
Detailed
Engineering Assessment (DEA)
is decided based on FOS valuesof factory buildings. Other issues
triggering DEA are: concerns withstructural issues, i.e. extensions,lateral system, flat plate punchingcapacity and slender columns,
and state of documentation andapprovals. Core tests are essential
actions for factory buildings fallingunder red, amber and yellow
category to gradually improve thestate of building and reach to green
category. For the purpose of core testat least four, three-inch diameter coresamples have to be collected andtested, and ACI 562 (2013) will be
used to estimate equivalent concrete
strength from those core data.
After each inspection, preliminary
assessment reports are prepared
including the findings along withrequired recommendations for thebuilding owners and users according
to the assessment results, i.e. DEAof the building involving soil
investigation, other non-destructive
tests and 3D building modeling.
Summary of Concrete Strengthof RMG Factory Buildings
Starting from June 2013 until
February 2015, 4,552 core samplesof 825 factory buildings werecollected and tested at BUET’s
Concrete Laboratory. Figure 2
shows distribution of these core
test results. Out of these data, 2,673
are of brick aggregate with mean
strength of 2,805 psi (19.3 MPa)and standard deviation of 1,231 psi(8.5 MPa), and 1,823 are of stoneaggregate with mean strength of
3,312 psi (22.8 MPa) and standard
deviation of 1,320 psi (9.1 MPa).
Figure 3 shows the distribution of
construction year of the buildings
along with their storey numbers
from which core samples were
tested at BUET. Out of these 825
factory buildings, 12,198, and therest were built before 1980, between
1980 and 2000, and after 2010,
respectively. Approximately, 52%of those factory buildings wereconstructed after 2005. Figure 4
shows representative of factorybuildings by their construction year.

Figure 3: Year wise distribution offactories from which cores are collected(a) Construction
Year: 1984(b) Construction
Year: 1992(c) Construction
Year: 2002(d) Construction
Year: 2012

Figure 4: Representative of Factory
Buildings by their Construction Year

ICUS Newsletter Jan. to Mar. 2015

Page 5

Lessons from the 1995 Kobe Earthquake at Its 20th Anniversary
by Prof. Kimiro Meguro

Twenty years have passed since
the Kobe earthquake with Japan
Metrological
Agency(JMA)
magnitude 7.3 struck middle-west partof Japan at 5:46 AM (Japanese localtime) on the 17th January 1995 andcaused severe damage. It was the firstevent that struck the modern big city inJapan and it recorded seismic intensity
7 of JMA scale which was the firsttime since the JMA defined seismic
intensity 7 based on the damage dueto the 1948 Fukui earthquake disaster.
Through the experiences of the Kobe
earthquake disaster, many issues related
not only to conventional earthquake
engineering but also to general society
were pointed out. Its impact was verystrong and comparable to those by the1891 Nobi earthquake, the 1923 Kanto
earthquake, and the subsequent 2011
East-Japan earthquake.
Based on the Kobe earthquake
disaster,wehavechangedmany systems related to disastermanagement. We understood difficultyof earthquake prediction and put muchweight on disaster countermeasures.
Worldbiggestshake
table
experimental facility called E-Defense
for better understanding of dynamic
failure behavior of full-scale structuresby earthquake ground motion andstrong-motion seismograph networks
called K-NET and KiK-net were
established by National ResearchInstitute for Earth-Science andDisaster Prevention (NIED). Disaster
Reduction and Human Renovation
Institution, new disaster research
institute, was established in Kobe
City by the cooperation of Hyogo
Prefecture and Cabinet Office ofJapanese Government.
Structuraldesign philosophy was also changed.
We started using two levels of seismic
strong ground motions for aseismic
design of structures, levels 1 and 2.
Against the level 1 ground motion,
which may happen once per structural
life time, engineered structure should
not be damaged and be operational.
In case of level 2 ground motion thatcan be considered the maximum in thetarget region and whose probability ismuch lower than that of level 1 groundmotion, once per hundreds of years,
structure may have some damage but
should not kill the people using thestructure.
As over 1.4 million of volunteers intotal visited the affected areas to support
response and recovery activities, theNPO law was established in 1998.
Besides this, many disaster related
laws and regulations were revised.
After 10 years since the Kobe
earthquake in 2005, the 2nd United
Nations World Conference forDisaster Reduction (UNWCDR) was
held in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture.
And Hyogo Framework for Action
2005-2015: Building the Resilienceof Nations and Communities toDisasters shown in the figure below
was declared. This will be reviewed
during the 3rd UNWCDR which will
be held in March 2015 in Sendai City,
Miyagi Prefecture that is one of themost affected areas by the 2011 Great
East-Japan earthquake.

Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters
Priorities for action 2005–2015
Drawing on the conclusions of the review of the Yokohama Strategy, and on the basis of deliberations at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction andHyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters
especially the agreed expected outcome and strategic goals, the Conference has adopted the following five priorities for action:
Priorities for action 2005–2015

1. Ensure that disaster risk reduction is a national and a local priority with a strong institutional basis for implementation.
Countries that develop policy, legislative and institutional frameworks for disaster risk reduction and that are able to develop and track progress throughspecific and measurable indicators have greater capacity to manage risks and to achieve widespread consensus for, engagement in and compliance withdisaster risk reduction measures across all sectors of society.
2. Identify, assess and monitor disaster risks and enhance early warning.
The starting point for reducing disaster risk and for promoting a culture of disaster resilience lies in the knowledge of the hazards and the physical, social,economic and environmental vulnerabilities to disasters that most societies face, and of the ways in which hazards and vulnerabilities are changing in the
short and long term, followed by action taken on the basis of that knowledge.
3. Use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels.
Disasters can be substantially reduced if people are well informed and motivated towards a culture of disaster prevention and resilience, which in turnrequires the collection, compilation and dissemination of relevant knowledge and information on hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities.
4. Reduce the underlying risk factors.
Disaster risks related to changing social, economic, environmental conditions and land use, and the impact of hazards associated with geological events,
weather, water, climate variability and climate change, are addressed in sector development planning and programmes as well as in post-disaster situations.
5. Strengthen disaster preparedness for effective response at all levels
At times of disaster, impacts and losses can be substantially reduced if authorities, individuals and communities in hazard-prone areas are well preparedand ready to act and are equipped with the knowledge and capacities for effective disaster management.

Drawing on the conclusions of the review of the Yokohama Strategy, and on the basis of deliberations at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction andespecially the agreed expected outcome and strategic goals, the Conference has adopted the following five priorities for action:
1. Ensure that disaster risk reduction is a national and a local priority with a strong institutional basis for implementation.
Countries that develop policy, legislative and institutional frameworks for disaster risk reduction and that are able to develop and track progress throughspecific and measurable indicators have greater capacity to manage risks and to achieve widespread consensus for, engagement in and compliance withdisaster risk reduction measures across all sectors of society.
2．Identify, assess and monitor disaster risks and enhance early warning.
The starting point for reducing disaster risk and for promoting a culture of disaster resilience lies in the knowledge of the hazards and the physical, social,economic and environmental vulnerabilities to disasters that most societies face, and of the ways in which hazards and vulnerabilities are changing in the
short and long term, followed by action taken on the basis of that knowledge.
3. Use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels.
Disasters can be substantially reduced if people are well informed and motivated towards a culture of disaster prevention and resilience, which in turnrequires the collection, compilation and dissemination of relevant knowledge and information on hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities.
4. Reduce the underlying risk factors.
Disaster risks related to changing social, economic, environmental conditions and land use, and the impact of hazards associated with geological events,
weather, water, climate variability and climate change, are addressed in sector development planning and programmes as well as in post-disaster situations.
5. Strengthen disaster preparedness for effective response at all levels
At times of disaster, impacts and losses can be substantially reduced if authorities, individuals and communities in hazard-prone areas are well prepared andready to act and are equipped with the knowledge and capacities for effective disaster management.

Lessons learnt from unidentified dead bodies
for the effective operation in next huge disasters
By Dr. Muneyoshi Numada

Four years have passed since the2011 Great-East Japan earthquake
disaster. Still many unidentified
dead bodies exist. The methods toPage 6

identify the unidentified dead bodies
are physical features and personal
belongings for about 90%, shape ofthe tooth for less than 10%, finger print

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 14, No.4

for 2% and DNA testing for one%.
In Miyagi Prefecture, Police
Headquarters is still trying to identify
the name, address and so on of 18

unidentified dead bodies at the endof March, 2015. As unidentified deadbodies were tried to be identified
by physical features and personal
belongings for the first time, but it
was impossible to identify them.
Their portraits were published to get
the information of unidentified deadbodies from their families or relatives
March 2012 after one year since theearthquake. The effect of portraits wasfound soon to identify some of thebodies.
But it was quite difficult to identify
Number of unidentified bodies
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
0

2011/4/10
2011/5/10
2011/6/10
2011/7/10
2011/8/10
2011/9/10
2011/10/10
2011/11/10
2011/12/10
2012/1/10
2012/2/10
2012/3/10
2012/9/10
2013/3/10
2013/9/10
2014/3/10
2014/9/10
2015/3/10

200

Change in number of unidentified
bead bodies

18 unidentified dead bodies. Because
the DNA matching is difficult without
information on family of unidentified
dead bodies to identify the DNA type.
Also, as the way to identify them ismainly by the manual operation, longtime is required to identify one body.
For effective responses ofunidentified dead bodies for next
disaster, following lessons learnt
from the 2011 East-Japan Earthquake
disaster should be considered:
1. Information sharing between
police and local government: About
70,000 cases were asked to Miyagi
Prefectural Police after the earthquake
to check the safety of family or
relatives. It was quite difficult toanswer only by police from the limited
information of the name or sex and soon.
2. Development of dental and
DNA databases: The databases arenecessary to identify the dead bodysmoothly. Although the police tried
to identify unidentified dead bodies, it
was inefficient due to a lack of data.
3. Management of personal belongings:
After performing autopsy to identify
the dead bodies, their belongings
should be kept and managed properly.
4. Standard process of responsesof autopsy at each autopsy venue.
26 points autopsy venues were set in
Miyagi Prefecture at the peak. To keepsame quality of operation, the standard
operation and information sharing
among the sites and the head quarterare necessary.
5. Wide area corresponding bodies
processing: Tokyo metropolitan
received some dead bodies from
Ishinomaki City. For the next hugedisasters, effective wide area deadbody treatment is necessary.
6. Preparation of temporary
mortuary and autopsy venue:
Schools or public buildings were used
for temporary mortuary and autopsy.

ICUS Activities January- March
Titles of graduated students
Lab.

MeguroKuwanoOki

Kato (T)

Iryo

Name

Grade

Dar Adnan Mahmood

MasterNao Sasaki

MasterJyo Inaba

MasterKeitaro Tanaka

MasterAyaka Nishiguchi

MasterYuki Murakami

MasterAbilash Pokhrel
Nguyen Ngoc Duyen
Shinjiro Yano
Nobuyuki Utsumi
Natsuki Yoshida

MasterMasterDoctorDoctorMasterAkane Sanae

MasterMisako Hatono
Wataru Suzuki
Junya Hamada

MasterMasterMasterSae Shikita

MasterShoko Kudo

MasterTasuku Yoshioka

MasterAi Nagashima

Master

Title
Experimental study on reduction of PP-band Mesh connectivity for effective seismic retrofitting ofbrick masonry house
Effects of Location of Welfare Facilities on the Support for Vulnerable People in Disaster
A Fundamental Study on Estimation of Workloads and Duration of Disaster Response Activities by
Municipalities
Impact Analysis of Infrastructure Rearrangement in Tsunami Affected Area Considering the
Depopulation on Sustainable Management Initial Cost Reduction and Running Cost Reduction of
Infrastructure-Case Study on Fishing Port and Fishing VillageAccuracy of Seismic Intensity Estimation of the JMA Earthquake Early Warning System and the New
Criteria of Warning
Verification and validation of the effects of self-floating evacuation facility usable in both normal andemergency situations
Development of Large Size Disk Transducer to Evaluate Elastic Properties of Coarse Granular
The Effect of Partly Loosened Backfill to the Behavior of Buried Flexible Pipe
Assessment of environmental impacts on freshwater availability and sustainability of human activities
Characteristics of global precipitation for different weather systems and the impacts of climate change
Study on the impacts of uncertainties in global land surface parameters on the water budget estimation
Investigation on formation of the hotspot and uncertainty analysis of radioactive material transport
simulation in the atmosphere
Implementation and impact assessment of inundation processes in a climate model
An objective estimation method to create precise land cover data in a wide area
A Discourse on Dams: Understanding and Elucidating the Factors of Dam Removal in Japan
Construction of a measurement method of motivation degree of an individual resident as a player incommunity planning and demonstration of its effectiveness
Development of Road Inaccessibility Risk Assessment Model Which Includes Road Cave-ins on LargeScale Earthquakes and Its Application in Chigasaki City, Kanagawa
Looking at the Future Scope for Enhancing Disaster Prevention Planning Activities through the
Perspective of Growth hacking Analogy
A Study on the Quality of Service of Pedestrian Crossing Flow

ICUS Newsletter Jan. to Mar. 2015

Page 7

TravelDate
Jan. 2-7

Name
Prof. Meguro

Country
Nepal

City
Kathmandu

Category
LectureJan. 11-13

Prof. Oki

India

Gandhinagar

Conference

Jan. 19-24
Feb. 9-13
Feb. 22- 26
Mar 3-8
Mar. 14-Apr. 4
Mar. 15-18
Mar. 26-Apr. 1

Prof. Oki
Dr. Matsumoto
Dr. Nagai & Dr. Matsumoto
Dr. Numada
Dr. Numada
Dr. Nagai & Dr. Matsumoto
Mr. Kodaka

Switzerland
Finland
India
Indonesia
Indonesia
Vietnam
MyanmarBern
Helsinki
Hyderabad, Delhi
Jakarta, Padang
Jakarta, Padang
Hanoi
YangonConference
Conference
WorkshopWorkshopWorkshopWorkshopMeeting

Editor’s note…

On the articles of this volume of theNewsletter, we are pleased to announce
the official start of two big projects for
ICUS; one is SATREPS and the otheris SIP. In both of projects, we will try
to implement Japanese technologies inother Asian countries and collaborate
with local researchers or engineers forthe above purpose. We believe that
ICUS’s wide spread network and avariety of our research field lead us to
the success of these projects.
It could be said that the mostimportant aspect for collaboration
is mutual interaction of different
knowledge. Generally, this “chemical

reaction” of multiple intelligence will
be a great power to output creative ideas.
In my research area, such mechanisms
are formulated by mathematicalmodel, and called “spatial interaction
model”. As main findings from themathematical model, “to shorten
the distance” and “to enhance theattractiveness” are essential for greaterinteraction (please imagine the lawof universal gravitation). Today, ourreal world becomes enough “small”
by the developments of transportation
techniques and internet networks.
Hence, we must put forth an effort to
output the valuable research results
as a pioneer of sustainable society.
Developing the positive feedback of

PurposeSupport of JSPS program
Water Security, Climate Change and Sustainable
Development
ISOT/TC207/SC5/WG8
IABSE2015
SIP project
JICA project
JICA project
SIP project
JICA-JST SATREPS project

collaboration and output is a dominantmission of ICUS.
We decided to organize “15thInternational Symposium on New
Technologies for Urban Safety ofMega Cities in Asia (USMCA 2015)”
in Kathmandu, Nepal from 29th to 31th
October 2015. 2015 Nepal earthquake
caused serious damages to the nation.
We have a plan of special session
about the “disaster recovery strategy
for future Nepal”. This face-to-faceconference will shorten the mental
distance between Japan and Nepal,
and produce the new collaborative
activity which is also a great challenge
for ICUS.

USMCA 2015: Oct. 29-31, Kathmandu, Nepal
The 14th International Symposium on New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia
(USMCA 2015) will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal on October 29-31, 2015. Further information isavailable at the USMCA 2015 official
Website: http://www.nset.org.np/USMCA2015

International Center for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS)
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan
Tel: (+81-3) 5452-6472, Fax: (+81-3) 5452-6476
http://icus.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp