History of National and International Congresses on Civil Engineering and the Establishment of the Board of Trustees for Civil Engineering Congresses
The first International Congress on Civil Engineering in Iran was held in 1971 at Shiraz University. The second and third congresses were also held at Shiraz University in 1974 and 1990, respectively. After a short pause, the fourth and fifth international congresses were held in 1997 and 2000 at Sharif University of Technology and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, respectively.
During the last congress in Mashhad, a group of representatives from leading universities in the country recognized the need for a unified and active civil engineering association to organize future congresses. They proposed a suitable structure to address this issue and agreed to hold the Sixth International Congress on Civil Engineering in 2003 at Isfahan University of Technology. Based on a statute approved on January 20, 2003, by representatives of 11 universities (alphabetically):
- University of Tabriz
- Tarbiat Modares University
- University of Tehran
- Shiraz University
- Isfahan University of Technology
- Amirkabir University of Technology
- K.N. Toosi University of Technology
- Sharif University of Technology
- Iran University of Science and Technology
- Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
- University of Kerman
A Board of Trustees was established. According to this statute:
- The congresses were named "International Congresses on Civil Engineering" due to the wide range of specialized fields.
- A three-year interval was determined for the congresses.
- Membership in the Board of Trustees required universities to offer a PhD program in at least one field of civil engineering.
During the Sixth International Congress on Civil Engineering held at Isfahan University of Technology in 2003, the high level of interest from researchers and the need to strengthen ties between academia and the civil engineering industry led to the decision to organize national civil engineering congresses between the international ones. The first national congress was held in 2004 at Sharif University of Technology.
Since then, the following national and international congresses have been organized successfully by the Board of Trustees:
- 2005: Second National Congress at Iran University of Science and Technology
- 2006: Seventh International Congress at Tarbiat Modares University
- 2007: Third National Congress at the University of Tabriz
- 2008: Fourth National Congress at the University of Tehran
- 2009: Eighth International Congress at Shiraz University
- 2010: Fifth National Congress at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
- 2011: Sixth National Congress at Semnan University
- 2012: Ninth International Congress at Isfahan University of Technology
- 2013: Seventh National Congress at the University of Sistan and Baluchestan
- 2014: Eighth National Congress at Babol Noshirvani University of Technology
- 2015: Tenth International Congress at the University of Tabriz
- 2016: Ninth National Congress at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
- 2017: Tenth National Congress at Sharif University of Technology
- 2018: Eleventh International Congress at the University of Tehran
- 2019: Eleventh National Congress at Shiraz University
- 2020: Twelfth National Congress at Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz
- 2021: Twelfth International Congress at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
- 2022: Thirteenth National Congress at Isfahan University of Technology
- 2023: Thirteenth International Congress at Iran University of Science and Technology
- 2024: Fourteenth National Congress at the University of Zanjan
According to the current schedule, the Fourteenth International Congress will be held in 2025 at Sharif University of Technology.
Since the establishment of the Board of Trustees in 2003 with 11 founding universities, the following universities and research institutes have also joined:
- Sahand University of Technology - Tabriz on June 24, 2004
- University of Sistan and Baluchestan on June 24, 2004
- International Research Institute of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering on June 24, 2004
- Semnan University on September 1, 2006
- Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol on November 20, 2000
- Urmia University on May 26, 2011
As of 2023, the Board of Trustees has held 79 sessions in various cities with full or majority participation of its members. Initially, membership required offering a PhD program in at least one field of civil engineering. Later, the condition was updated to require graduating at least one PhD student in any field of civil engineering.
Two universities, Iran University of Science and Technology and the University of Kerman, withdrew from the Board after their representatives ceased participation in the 35th session (April 26, 2011) and the 42nd session (February 13, 2013), respectively. This reduced the Board’s membership to 15, but Iran University of Science and Technology rejoined during the 59th session. Currently, the Board has 16 members.
Due to Shiraz University's successful organization of the first three congresses, it was chosen as the permanent secretariat for the Civil Engineering Congresses and continues to host it to this day.