ICUS/INCEDE NEWSLETTER
International Center for Urban Safety Engineering

DUSRSINIT YOFOFTETO KYOI N S TIT U

Institute of Industrial Science
The University of Tokyo

TRIA LS C IEN CETHEUNIVE

VOLUME 1 NUMBER 1APRIL - JUNE 2001

International Center forUrban Safety Engineering

TOWARDS SAFER URBAN CITIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY
ByTaketo UOMOTO
I take pleasure in greeting you
on behalf of the International
Center for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS) created at the Instituteof Industrial Science of the University of Tokyo in April, 2001 with theobjective of carrying out researchand disseminating information related to different aspects related tourban safety engineering and creating a safe urban environment in
the 21st Century. The Center wascreated after the International
Center for Disaster-Mitigation Engineering (INCEDE) completed its
ten-year term, during which it
served as a major driving force ininternational cooperation in areas
related to disaster mitigation engineering, disaster preparedness, andfield surveys, especially in the aftermath of floods and earthquakes.
There is an urgent need to develop a more responsive system for
urban safety that comprehensively
encompasses areas such as, evaluation of urban infrastructure, management of disasters such as earthquakes or floods, and effective utilization of available information forpreparedness. Besides seeking
cooperation from researchers fromother countries, efforts are being
made to involve the Japanese Government agencies, consultants andconstruction companies, and local
bodies, in the research activities ofthe center.

ture in the event of natural disasters such as earthquake, flood, etc.,
long term implications of urbanization, and use of techniques such as
Remote Sensing in creating a safe
urban environment.

The central objective of the International Center for Urban Safety
Engineering (ICUS) is to develop
new technologies for evaluation ofsafety and integrity of structures taking into account the deterioration of
the materials used and changes in
the required performance levels, inservice maintenance and management systems for structures to ensure the safety of urban infrastruc-

The following three groups havebeen created at the ICUS to promote research work in different
related areas:
Sustainable EngineeringGroup for the development of newtechnologies for in-service maintenance and management systems
for evaluation of structural safety,
repair and rehabilitation measures.
Urban Safety and Disaster
Mitigation Group for the development of management technologies to ensure the structural safetyof urban infrastructure in the eventof natural disasters such as earthquake, flood, etc., development anddissemination of information relating to prediction of disasters andtheir effects on social and economicactivities.
Infrastructure Information
Dynamics Group for the development and evaluation of technologies
for monitoring information related
to urban infrastructure. The group

Professor Taketo Uomoto
Director of ICUS/INCEDEpage 2
will also work on applications oftechniques such as Remote Sensing, Geographical Information System, Global Positioning System, Information network, space dataanalysis, etc. in urban safety.
Activities of the ICUS will becarried out using Grant-in-aid andother projects funded by the Departments of Education, Scienceand Technology, etc of the Government of Japan. Funding is also being sought from other sectors forspecific projects. I would like to invite suggestions from you also andlook forward to formulating joint research projects, which could thenbe processed for funding and execution. A workshop was held at
Bangkok recently and an effortmade to identify areas of common

areas between researchers at ICUS
and the Asian Institute of Technology and other Universities in Thailand.
This newsletter also gives a briefbackground of the faculty and staffof the center at present. In addition
to their responsibilities to ensure asmooth working of the center, thefaculty members are also engaged
in normal academic activities, including teaching and research. I hope that
more manpower will be available tobe able to expand the activities ofthe center.
In order to better understand theneeds of the society, and provide
publicity to the activities of the Centre, it is proposed to hold national andinternational seminars, etc. andregularly update the website of thecenter, in addition to giving brief
details in the Newsletter. I invite you
to join our members' Network andparticipate in formulating newprogrammes.
Though there was a delay in getting this first newsletter off theground, I hope to keep you informed of our activities throughregular newsletters and updates on
our website (http://icus-incede.iis.
u-tokyo.ac.jp). The ICUS is fortunate to have inherited a strong international network of researchers
and academicians in different partsof the world and I look forward to
your cooperation in helping thecenter achieve its goals.

Introducing the staff of ICUS/INCEDE
The staff at the International
Center for Urban Safety
Engineering at present comprisesof two Professors, two Associate
Professors and two Research

Associates, besides supporting andadministrative staff. There is also a
provision to have three Visiting
Professors and graduate students towork at the Center.

Dr. Sudhir Misra is currently a
Visiting Professor at the Centerfrom the Indian Institute ofTechnology, Kanpur, India.

ICUS/INCEDE staff members
Sitting from left: Ms. Chiharu Murakami, Ms. Noriko Shiuchi, Prof. Taketo Uomoto, Ms. Akiko Nagashima, Ms. Kaoru Iwata
Standing from left: Dr. Shirou Ochi, Prof. Kimiro Meguro, Prof. Ryozo Ooka, Dr. Vasanthadevi Aravinthan, Prof. Yoshifumi Yasuoka,
Dr. Dushmanta Dutta, Prof. Sudhir Misra

ICUS/INCEDE Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 1

page 3

1st ICUS/INCEDE Open Lecture
ICUS organized the first Open
Lecture May 22, 2001 at the Institute of Industrial Science of theUniversity of Tokyo as the continuation of the series of Open Lectures
initiated by INCEDE 10 years ago.
The main objective of the initiationof the Open Lecture has been toshare the knowledge and informa-tion with general public directly. During the period of INCEDE, the major emphasis was to share the knowledge on natural disasters andunderstand what happens during andafter hazards. With the intent of continuing this innovative method ofsharing knowledge with people on
issues of urban safety, ICUSFirst open lecture/forum heldon May 22nd 2001.
Date and time
No. of Participants
List of topics and Speakers
contents
Q and A
Future plan

Prof. Uomoto, Director of ICUS welcomes the audience.

organized the first open lecture.
The open lecture was inaugurated by Prof. Taketo Uomoto,Director of ICUS. In his introductory remarks, Prof. Uomoto
outlined the objectives and briefly
discussed the current and future
activities of the Center. He wasfollowed by Prof. Ken Sudo,
former Director of INCEDE, whoshared his vision of ICUS futurefrom his vast experience of workin INCEDE and UN for IDNDR
activities. Following thesepresentations Prof. Yoshifumi
Yasuoka, Dr. Kimiro Meguro andDr. Ryozo Ooka, who are involvedin the activities of the three maingroups of ICUS, spoke on theirpresent and planned research activities. Over 140 persons attended the Open Lecture.

(by D. Dutta)

ICUS/INCEDE participated at the IIS Open House
Every year IIS organizes anOpen House for two-day period in
the first week of June. During thesetwo-day period, all the laboratories
and research centers of the institutedisplay their activities to the visitors.
On average about 5,000 people visit
the institute for the Open House in
two days, including people fromvarious research organizations, industrial sectors, academic organizations from high school to university levels as well as Tokyo based
international organizations. With
great enthusiasm ICUS participated for the first time in the OpenHouse of Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), the University of Tokyo
during June 7-8, 2001.
ICUS divided its display booths
in the Open House into four categories: general information; sustainable engineering; urban safetyand disaster mitigation andinfrastructure information dynamics.
The center demonstrated to thevisitors some of the on-going
research activities of three divisionsof the center as well as the futuregoals. ICUS members wereencourged by the interests ofmany visitors in the activities of
the center and by their invaluablecomments in various aspects of
its planned activities.

A graduate student explains ICUS activities to a visitor.

ICUS/INCEDE Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 1

page 4
Editor’s Note
Urban safety has attracted a
lot of attention in the recent years.
Major concern has been
expressed for a proper evaluationof the capability of existing
infrastructure, and enhancing it
whenever required. There is also
a n e e d t o s t u d y p o s s i bl e
application of developments inother fields such as GIS, Remote
Sensing, Material Science andEngineering, Earthquake
Engineering, etc. in Urban Safety
Engineering. There is an urgent
need to develop a responsive
system that understands theneeds of the society and work
towards creating a safe urban
environment.
The International Center for
Urban Safety Engineering(ICUS) has been created at theInstitute of Industrial Science (IIS),
University of Tokyo to serve as anodal center for car rying out
research and disseminating
information in areas related to Urban
Safety. This center, created after theInternational Centre for DisasterMitigation Engineering (INCEDE)
had completed its ten-year term, hasembarked on an ambitious
programme to involve people fromdifferent walks of life in research
related to different aspects of Urban
Safety. For example, efforts arebeing made to involve people infinancial and social sectors in research related to urban disasterand safety.
It has been decided that the center
will endeavour to expand theactivities of the INCEDE and seek
active cooperation and support
from the network members. The
Newsletter that you are now
reading is the first issue from thenew center. While wishing you andyour family the very best for theNew Year, I take this opportunityt o r e q u e s t yo u t o a c t ive ly
participate in formulating future
research activities of the center.
You may send in your comments
and suggestions by post or email.
Of course, you are most welcome
to drop in and meet us in person!!
With your cooperation, we hopeto create a niche for the center inthe emerging area of Urban-Safety
Engineering.

ICUS/INCEDE, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, JapanTel: (+81-3)-5452-6472, Fax: (+81-3)-5452-6476, http://icus-incede.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/

International Center for Urban Safety Engineering, ICUS/INCEDE
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, JapanDRSINIT YOFOF

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IVEInternational Center for
Urban Safety Engineering(K. Meguro)