Preface

The First European-Mediterranean Conference in Structural Engineering and Construction (EURO-MED-SEC-1) is organized as a regional conference of the International Structural Engineering and Construction Society's (ISEC) conference series. EURO-MED-SEC-1 was hosted by Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, a major state university in Turkey. The conference theme was "Interaction between Theory and Practice in Civil Engineering and Construction".

Scientific research studies in civil, structural, and construction engineering are progressing fast at various world locations, resulting in net benefits to the construction industry. Consequently, the Industry moves forward with research and development output, fed by practice. The conference aims to bring practice and research together to provide an opportunity for the exchange of the latest research findings by active world researchers, academicians, engineers, architects, and construction managers.

The book covers more than a hundred technical papers from twenty-seven countries, presented at the Conference in 12 technical sessions. These papers represent major topics of civil engineering and construction from concrete structures, sustainable construction, steel structures, architecture and architectural engineering, architectural system design, ethics, education, cost management, and many others. All papers were chosen after a two-stage peer review process where first the abstracts, and then the full papers were reviewed. It is hoped the research studies presented here will provide future research opportunities for scholars in the field.

The Conference is also supported by Kocaeli University, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Beykoz Municipality, SOYAK Holding, EMAY International Engineering and Consultancy Inc., Chartered Institute of Building, Turkish Ready Mixed Concrete Association, and the International Project Management Institute (UPYE). We gratefully thank all our supporters.

On behalf of the organizing committee, we wish to thank Dr. David Arditi and Dr. Tuncer Edil for their keynote articles and support. We also thank all contributing authors for considering EURO-MEC-SEC 1 to present their research studies. Our appreciation is extended to members of the International Technical Committee and other reviewers for their time and support. We express our gratitude to Yildiz Technical University for providing infrastructure and facilities for the realization of the conference.

Ruveyda KOMURLU, PhD, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey
Asli Pelin GURGUN, PhD, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
Amarjit SINGH, PhD, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A.
Siamak YAZDANI, PhD, North Dakota State University, Fargo, U.S.A.
Editors