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For smart cities, the successful large-scale implementation of solar PV technology, Quality Certification and Standards are mandatory. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a global organization for standardization consisting of all IEC national committees. The IEC PV standards comprise IEC technical committee 82 solar PV Energy System (IEC TC82) which develops and adopts all Photovoltaic related standards. There are nearly 80 standards applicable to photovoltaic and five working groups in IEC TC82. For necessary safety requirements ‘Quality and Standards’ technologically need to be revised and up to date. This paper presents PV standards developed by various technical committees worldwide, mainly focusing on various IEC PV standards, gaps identified by them and the recommendations provided by the committee in recent times. The breakup costs of the various sub-systems of a PV installation with an illustrative example for India is also discussed. It is intended to provide a guideline for consumers and investors, opting for solar PV installations.

Forensic science is crucial for the administration of justice and case investigation. In China, political-legal organizations, including the courts, public security, procuratorate, and judicial administration, developed their own forensic practices before 2004. As a result, the frequent and repeated appraisals undermined judicial authority and credibility. Thus, a law was published in 2005 to improve the uniform forensic management system by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, leading to the establishment of the Forensic Administration of the Ministry of Justice in 2006. During this process, the increased accreditation and interflow highlighted the role of consensus in forensic standards for forensic service providers to avoid uncertainty regarding the methods used and interpretation of results. In 2017, a policy document was promulgated again to strengthen the importance of the uniform standards, which also proposed to establish a new national technical committee for the standardization of forensic science by the General Office of the State Council. In 2018, despite the continuing problems concerning uniformity, the Forensic Administration of the Ministry of Justice was merged into the Public Legal Services Administration. Yet, there is still a long way to go for the national technical committee for the standardization of forensic science. This paper analyses the evolution of forensic standards internationally and nationally, discusses the existing problems, and proposes relative solutions. Moreover, it discusses the future of standards development with the deepening of the reformation of both the national standardization and judicial system.

On December 14, 2020, the ISO Technical Management Board (TMB) took the decision to transform ISO/REMCO, the ISO Committee for Reference Materials, and to create a new technical committee (ISO/TC 334). The main reason for this decision was to facilitate the transformation of the ISO/REMCO Guides, developed for the production and use of reference materials, into other ISO deliverables, most probably international standards. Since the creation of the committee a mirror of the working group structure of ISO/REMCO, as well as the liaison relationships have been established in the new committee. It is expected that the inaugural meeting of ISO/TC 334 will take place in August 2021. The most important decisions that will be taken include the finalisation of the title and scope of work of the committee and the plan for the conversion of the ISO/REMCO Guides into other ISO deliverables.

The 43rd meeting of the Reference Material Committee of ISO, ISO/REMCO, that was scheduled to take place in Milan, Italy, from 30 June to 3 July 2020 with Accredia, the Italian accreditation body and INRIM, the Italian Metrology Institute as the hosts, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report shares the details of the important decision that was taken by the ISO Technical Management Board (TMB) in December 2020 to transform ISO/REMCO into an ISO technical committee, ISO/TC 334, Reference materials. The background that led to the decision is provided as well as the implications of the decision for the future of the development of guidance for the production and use of reference materials. The report also gives an update on the progress with the work program of the committee during the past year and the strategy for the future work of the committee.

Presents information on the CS Society Technical Committee on Control Education: A First Course in Systems and Control Engineering.

High voltage direct current (HVDC) cable systems with extruded insulation are becoming increasingly attractive versus the traditional mass impregnated non-draining (MIND) HVDC cable systems [1]. Voltage and power ratings of HVDC extruded cable systems commercially available - after being qualified according to CIGRE Technical Brochure (TB) 496 [2] - are exceeding 500 to 600 kV and 1 GW, respectively [3]-[6]. Of course, HVDC extruded cable systems still have issues.

This article presents the scientific outcomes of the 2020 Data Fusion Contest (DFC2020) organized by the Image Analysis and Data Fusion Technical Committee of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society. The 2020 Contest addressed the problem of automatic global land-cover mapping with weak supervision, i.e., estimating high-resolution semantic maps while only low-resolution reference data are available during training. Two separate competitions were organized to assess two different scenarios: 1) high-resolution labels are not available at all; and 2) a small amount of high-resolution labels are available additionally to low-resolution reference data. In this article, we describe the DFC2020 dataset that remains available for further evaluation of corresponding approaches and report the results of the best-performing methods during the contest.

Globalization has been a main driver for firms’ entry into standard-setting organizations (SSOs). These global multifirm settings have caught attention due to tensions arising from simultaneous collaboration and competition among firms as well as due to the increasing geographical complexity of the standardization process. SSOs present one form of a multifirm environment, where companies proactively and voluntarily collaborate to develop a new standard. Although a growing body of literature has tried to understand firms’ underlying rationales for engaging in SSOs, we know little about firm-level characteristics influencing the propensity to enter a standard-setting organization. For this purpose, data of the Community Innovation Survey 2011 for Germany are merged with data of companies’ participation at technical committees of the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) between 2010 and 2013. Using these unique data, we can observe the moment when firms enter a technical committee of a formal SSO and, hence, tackle the problem of simultaneity. Our results show that the likelihood to enter a technical committee of an SSO increases for firms that introduce new products or services into the market, while absorptive capacity does not have a significant positive influence. Finally, the protection of innovations by patents further enhances the likelihood to enter a technical committee of an SSO.

TC 9: ICT and Society; International audience; In this chapter we briefly recount the history of the Human Choice and Computers conference series, and of Technical Committee 9, and show that not only has there been a marked focus, over more than four decades, on a critical and sociotechnical approach to understanding the relationship between ICTs and society, but that HCC and TC9 might be regarded as the original and continuing home of the critical academic voice in ICT. We show this through a textual analysis of the proceedings of the conferences, and through biographical detail concerning the key players involved.

This focused issue is sponsored by the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) MTT-11 Technical Committee (TC) on Low-Noise Techniques. Each TC in the MTT-S is made up of international researchers with a variety of backgrounds and research interests. The low-noise TC changes on a regular basis and brings in researchers with new interests. Low-noise techniques cover everything from fundamental noise sources down to the quantum level and up to complete systems. Of course, nonlinear processes, semiconductor devices, and oscillator noise sources are also covered, as you will see in the articles in this issue. The goal of an MTT-S TC is to promote workshops and educational publications and to maintain an everimproving knowledge base for the Society in a specific area.

ISBM 2020, RILEM International Symposium on Bituminous Materials , Lyon, FRANCE, 14-/12/2020 - 16/12/2020; The Task Group 2 of the RILEM Technical Committee 264-RAP on non-cold recycling identified the need to gather some insights about possible durability issues associated with the combination of Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) and of Reclaimed Asphalt (RA) in order to prioritize the characteriza-tion or research needs for relevant damage types. For this purpose, an interna-tional inter-laboratory testing program was launched in 5 different laboratories. This was developed on the basis of the challenges which a road material de-signer commonly faces: reduce the temperature, add RA, but preserve the same properties. Each laboratory characterized, according to its internal protocol, two variations of the same type of mixture (similar grading curve, binder content, etc.): a Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) without RA taken as reference and a WMA with 40% RA. The performances of all the WMA with 40% RA are then com-pared in order to see if common trends emerge from the different characteriza-tion methods and reveal property issues specific to WMA+RA combinations.

In response to the 2019 CMAJ commentary by Holloway and colleagues,[1][1] we wish to clarify: The CSA (operating as “CSA Group”) is a private, not-for-profit company that publishes voluntary standards and related documents through a consensus-based standards development process approved by the

International audience; In view of the contemporary scenario and importance of alternative liquid dielectrics, IEEE DEIS Technical Committee on Liquid Dielectrics laid emphasis on pre-breakdown phenomena of ester dielectric fluids. The present article reports the background knowledge on the breakdown theories and behavior of streamers in insulating oils. The major influencing properties of the streamers aroused in liquid insulating systems are discussed keeping in view of the ester based dielectric fluids. Importantly, modelling of streamers, testing approaches, and review of pre-breakdown phenomena in ester dielectric fluids has been presented.

Digital Fabrication with Concrete (DFC) encompasses 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) and many other methods of production. DFC is emerging from an era of invention and demonstration to one where the merits of one principle over another needs to be quantified systematically. DFC technologies vary in characteristics, complexity and maturity which hampers the synthesis of research and comparisons of performance. The interdependence of design geometry, material properties and process characteristics is well recognised. Materials research has made significant progress in recent years and there have been many applications with varying design geometries demonstrated. Far less has been done to guide the definition and description of the processes used. This work takes a step forward by presenting classification and process description guidance for DFC. The approach was developed by engaging a broad cross-section of the international community through the activities of the RILEM Technical Committee 276 between 2016 and 2020., Cement and Concrete Research, 134, ISSN:0008-8846

Genetically modified (GM) crops are one of the most valuable tools of modern biotechnology that secure yield potential needed to sustain the global agricultural demands for food, feed, fiber, and energy. Crossing single GM events through conventional breeding has proven to be an effective way to pyramid GM traits from individual events and increase yield protection in the resulting combined products. Even though years of research and commercialization of GM crops show that these organisms are safe and raise no additional biosafety concerns, some regulatory agencies still require risk assessments for these products. We sought out to investigate whether stacking single GM events would have a significant impact on agronomic and phenotypic plant characteristics in soybean, maize, and cotton. Several replicated field trials designed as randomized complete blocks were conducted by Monsanto Regulatory Department from 2008 to 2017 in field sites representative of cultivation regions in Brazil. In total, twenty-one single and stacked GM materials currently approved for in-country commercial use were grown with the corresponding conventional counterparts and commercially available GM/non-GM references. The generated data were presented to the Brazilian regulatory agency CTNBio (National Biosafety Technical Committee) over the years to request regulatory approvals for the single and stacked products, in compliance with the existing normatives. Data was submitted to analysis of variance and differences between GM and control materials were assessed using t-test with a 5% significance level. Data indicated the predominance of similarities and neglectable differences between single and stacked GM crops when compared to conventional counterpart. Our results support the conclusion that combining GM events through conventional breeding does not alter agronomic or phenotypic plant characteristics in these stacked crops. This is compatible with a growing weight of evidence that indicates this long-adopted strategy does not increase the risks associated with GM materials. It also provides evidence to support the review and modernization of the existing regulatory normatives to no longer require additional risk assessments of GM stacks comprised of previously approved single events for biotechnology-derived crops. The data analyzed confirms that the risk assessment of the individual events is sufficient to demonstrate the safety of the stacked products, which deliver significant benefits to growers and to the environment.

Objective To analyze the incidence and injury pattern in Spanish football (soccer) referees. Method In this retrospective study, Spanish referees filled out an online survey during a training camp organized by the Referees Technical Committee of the Real Federación Española de Fútbol. The survey included questions on aspects of refereeing qualifications, training and matches, injury patterns (type, location, and circumstances), and absence of the 2018–2019 season. Results A total of 28 elite referees (24.1%) out of 116 reported having suffered one injury during the season. Significant differences in the frequency of injuries between match (MRs) and assistant referees (ARs) were observed. MRs were 1.90 (95% CI 1.008–3.582) times as likely to suffer an injury compared to ARs. The incidence of match injuries for MRs officiating in the top division of the Spanish Football League was 1.30 (95% CI 0.0–3.82) per 1000 match hours while for ARs was 0.7 (95% CI 0.0–2.1); the incidence of training injuries was considerably lower in both groups (0.4 (95% CI 0.0–0.9) vs. 0.3 (95% CI 0.0–0.6). Hamstring- and calf-related muscle problems were the most common injury diagnoses in elite referees. Injured referees had, on average, 2 weeks of absence from training and competition. Conclusion Elite MRs had a 90% increase in the risk of suffering an injury in comparison with elite ARs. The incidence of match injury or training injury was very low in both groups, despite that, they should continue carrying out preventive programs specially targeted for hamstring- and calf-related muscle problems. Sin financiación No data JCR 2020 0.211 SJR (2020) Q3, 149/210 Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation 0,563 IDR (2020) C2, 20/43 Deporte UEM

Numerous sustainability rating systems have been developed in the building sector. In this paper we distinguish between those whose aim is to allow companies striving for improved performance to gain an objective basis for communicating their efforts, such as LEED, and those that aim to communicate the life cycle environmental impact of goods, such as ATHENA Impact Estimator. We name the former effort-driven assessment and the latter data-driven assessment. This work undertakes a state-of-the-art review of all these assessment systems and assesses their effectiveness comparing the indicators used for assessment against the established standards by the Technical Committee (TC) 350 of the European Committee for standardization (CEN/TC 350). About 62% of the social and economic indicators remain unconsidered by the existing data-driven assessment tools, whereas effort-driven assessment tools have a higher consideration of social and economic aspects, with about half of the indicators unconsidered., En el sector de la construcción se han desarrollado numerosos sistemas de calificación de sostenibilidad. En este documento distinguimos entre aquellos que pretenden que las empresas que luchan por mejorar su sostenibilidad obtengan una base objetiva para comunicar sus esfuerzos, como LEED, y aquellos que evalúan el impacto medioambiental de los productos durante el ciclo de vida, como ATHENA Impact Estimador. Denominamos a los primeros, sistemas de evaluación basada en el esfuerzo y a los segundos, sistemas de evaluación basada en datos. Este trabajo revisa el estado del arte de estos sistemas y evalúa su efectividad comparando los indicadores utilizados con los estándares establecidos por el the Technical Committee (TC) 350 of the European Committee for standardization (CEN). Observamos que un 62% de los indicadores sociales y económicos propuestos por el CEN/TC 350 no son considerados por los sistemas de evaluación basados en datos mientras que los sistemas de evaluación basados en el esfuerzo tienen en cuenta aproximadamente la mitad de estos indicadores.

Cold bitumen emulsions (CBE) are currently used worldwide for both non-structural (cold surface treatments) and structural (cold bituminous mixtures) paving applications. Among non-structural applications, bituminous slurry surfacings (BSS) allow to improve surface properties and extend the pavement’s life. However, selection of constituents, mix design, application and quality control procedures for BSS are mostly based on local experience and empirical tests. Thus, the use of BSS is associated to higher technical risks with respect to the use of traditional hot-mix technologies. In this context the RILEM Technical Committee 280-CBE TG2 “Multiphase characterisation of cold bitumen emulsion materials” aims to collect worldwide theoretical knowledge and experiences on BSS and to inspire new standards, specifications and guidelines encompassing the wide set of existing practices. This paper summarizes the first part of the literature review carried out as part of the TC workplan and focuses on the definition, the description and the application method for BSS. National standards, construction specifications and best practice documents from North America, South America, Europe and Australia are analysed and compared.

This special section of the IEEE JOURNAL OF ELECTRON DEVICES SOCIETY is dedicated to select papers presented at the 2019 IEEE S3S Conference, which was held Oct. 14– 17, 2019 in San Jose, CA, USA. The papers were selected based on their technical merits and relevance to the Journal and with the feedback from the Technical Committee of the conference and session chairs.

Outdoor insulators have been widely recognized as backbone components installed in the power system in order to maintain a reliable power supply. The ability of outdoor insulating materials to withstand different weathering conditions in different outdoor environment high voltages has been an important task defined for both suppliers and users of outdoor insulators in the power industry. The use of standard material screening methods is an essential step conducted in order to qualify outdoor insulating materials for their targeted high voltage applications. Various standard guides have been developed, but the need remains to update or create new guides addressing new challenges in the power system. The main aim of this technical committee is to develop IEEE guides on evaluation methods of high voltage insulation materials in the outdoors. The following objectives can be highlighted in achieving this aim: • Providing a scheduled forum such as workshops, special sessions and meetings, addressing new challenges in the industry. • Conducting technical activities such as round robin testing and state-of-the-art literature surveys on recent advances. • Publishing review articles, position papers and special issues in the journals of DEIS.

According to the history of coding (or encryption) data and information were carried out during the time of Julius Caesar, who used simple cryptographic techniques to protect his messages from the eyes of the enemy. In this paper a study will be conducted on the issuance of ISSN (International Standard of Serial Number) 10 sample journals The Scientific Information and Documentation Center (PDII) LIPI has the duty and authority to monitor all periodical publications published in Indonesia. As part of these responsibilities, PDII publishes an International Standard of Serial Number (ISSN), which is a unique identifier of each periodic publication that applies globally. The ISSN is granted by the ISDS (International Serial Data System) which is based in Paris, France. The ISSN was adopted as the implementation of ISO-3297 in 1975 by Subcommittee no. 9 of the Technical Committee no. 46 of ISO (TC 46 / SC 9). ISDS delegates the provision of ISSN both regionally and nationally. The Asian region is centered on the Thai National Library, Bangkok, Thailand. PDII LIPI is the only ISSN National Center for Indonesia. To do the validity test the E-ISSN code uses the Modulo algorithm.

This recommendation describes how to characterize the reclaimed asphalt through the fragmentation test. The guidelines given hereafter are based on the results of a round robin test organized by the RILEM Technical Committee 237-SIB ‘‘Testing and characterization of sustainable innovative bituminous materials and systems’’ and provide information on the testing procedure, data analysis and indications for the preparation of a test report.

This contribution aims at making an overview of the most recent activities/contributions in education in the control field by members of the Technical Committee Nonlinear Systems, in order to share the best practices and ideas in the community, as well as to investigate into the level of awareness, interest and involvement of the TC members in several aspects concerning education.

The semi-spade rudder and KP458 propeller of the KVLCC2 (KRISO very large crude carrier) model tanker are adopted by ITTC maneuvering technical committee in the comparative study of ship maneuverability. The incompressible viscous flow around semi-spade rudder and KP458 propeller is investigated using Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations, the computational grids are generated using ICEM software, and finite volume method is employed to discretize the governing equations. Combined with turbulence model, the hydrodynamic performance of semi-spade rudder is analyzed at different rudder angles, and the result provides a reference for the estimation of the hydrodynamic characteristics of semi-spade rudder. The multi-reference framework method is employed to carry out the numerical simulation of the flow field around the propeller. The thrust and torque of propeller under different turbulence models are calculated in the simulation. The thrust coefficient curve, torque coefficient curve, and efficiency curve are present. The pressure distributions of the pressure side and suction side of propeller blades are studied at different advance coefficient. Based on the study of the hydrodynamic performance of the semi-spade rudder and propeller, the propeller–rudder interaction is simulated and analyzed at different advance coefficient.

The braking effect of hoists is influenced by the efficiencies of the installed components. It is foreseeable that the occurring losses lead to greater decelerations than lossless consideration. This article considers the efficiency and its description. He goes from an easily comprehensible description for a simple mechanical system for the description of a hoist with its temporally and locally variable energy inputs and energy outputs. The article presents a general equation for the system acceleration of hoists. This general equation potentially takes into account three brakes: motor brake, service brake and safety brake and two efficiencies: Gearing efficiency and rope drive efficiency. Finally, the braking distances and the required braking torques for braking with the safety brake of the reference hoist are shown. The contents are inspired by the VDI Technical Committee 304 Cranes.

This recommendation proposes an experimental protocol to characterize Recycled Asphalt (RA) materials. The guidelines presented in this document are based on the results of a Round Robin Test (RRT) organized by the RILEM Technical Committee 237-SIB “Testing and characterization of sustainable innovative bituminous materials and systems” and provide information on the testing procedure, data analysis and indications for the preparation of a test report.

The article proves the need of using the international standards and the best world practices for development of the industry of e-learning and modernization of Russian education. The attention is focused on the need of further development of legislative base and creation of a complex of the national standards harmonized with fundamental international standards and considering specifics of Russian education.

International audience; The following recommendations are based on the chapter III of a State of the Art review conducted by the Task Group 2 of the RILEM Technical Committee 241-MCD 'Mechanisms of cracking and debonding in asphalt and composite pavements' (Petit et al in Mechanisms of cracking and debonding in asphalt and composite pavements. Chapter III of the State-of-the-Art report of the RILEM technical committee 241-MCD series, vol 28. Springer, New York, pp 103-154. ISBN 978-3-319-76848-9 2018). The recommendations mostly concern 'pure' fracture mode test methods that are currently used worldwide and even standardized, while mixed mode test methods developed by few research teams have not received full attention. This paper intends to give guidance for the application and characterization of interlayer bond testing, looking at the appropriate test methods and the importance of influencing parameters.

After the 2004 tragic tsunami that struck the western coastlines of Peninsular Malaysia and several Asian countries, which claimed thousands of lives and inflicted substantial damage to properties and economy of affected areas, the Malaysian government established a task force namely “Special National Task Force on Planting of Mangrove and Other Suitable Species in Coastal Areas”. The main role of the task force was to identify coastal areas for restoration, conservation, protection and promotion of research related to planting of mangrove species. One of the Technical Committee is on Research and Development (RDTC) led by The Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) and was given the task to carry out research and development related to mangrove forest rehabilitation as well as the conservation at the areas that have high risk of coastal erosion. The seaward mangrove plot of 200 m × 40 m, was established at the beach of Sungai Haji Dorani, Selangor, Kuala Bernam Forest Reserved in December 2007. The objective of the study was to demonstrate that the new established seaward mangrove supports the effort in preserving the shoreline and act as natural protection zones in reducing the effects of natural disaster and soil erosion. The finding of the study has shown that after five years, the seaward mangroves successfully executed as a natural buffer and subsequently improved biodiversity of Kuala Bernam mangrove Forest Reserved at Sungai Haji Dorani.

Chloride threshold value is an important input parameter in service life predictions. There has been a need for a reliable method for testing this value in order to improve the understanding of basic factors influencing the corrosion initiation. For this reason RILEM technical committee (TC) 235-CTC was formed with the ultimate aim to recommend a suitable test method capable of delivering data with acceptable measurement uncertainty. During the TC’s life, a test method was proposed and a Round-Robin Test (RRT) was organised to evaluate it. Due to the unexpected results from the RRT, the ultimate aim of the TC was not reached. There were some experiences obtained from the TC’s work especially in designing the test method which are worthy for supporting future researchers continuing to search for a reliable test method for it. This technical letter presents the TC’s experiences., RILEM Technical Letters, 3, ISSN:2518 -0231

International audience; The durability of building materials with respect to salt crystallization is commonly determined by accelerated weathering tests, carried out in the laboratory. An effective laboratory weathering test should assess the durability and, in the case of conservation of historic buildings, the compatibility of repair materials with those existing. Besides, the test should provide reliable results within a reasonable period of time, accelerating the deterioration process without however altering its mechanism. Despite several national and international standards, recommendations and guidelines, a commonly accepted testing protocol does not yet exist. Researchers often develop and apply their own procedure, a fact that complicates comparison between different studies. The RILEM Technical Committee 271 ASC has been set up with the scope of developing improved test procedures for the assessment of the behaviour of materials under the influence of salt crystallization, which should overcome the limitations of existing standards and recommendations. This paper constitutes one of the first results of the work of the Technical Committee. It critically reviews the literature on salt crystallization tests, identifies advantages and limitations of the several test protocols and provides new ideas for the development of improved salt crystallization procedures.

This recommendation describes how to evaluate the presence of potentially active bitumen in recycled asphalt (RA) materials through the cohesion test. The experimental protocol is designed according to the research performed by the RILEM Technical Committee 237-SIB ‘‘Testing and characterization of sustainable innovative bituminous materials and systems’’ with the purpose, to develop a new, simple and fast method for the characterization of RA while limiting the need for conventional rheological tests. The guidelines in this recommendation focus on the testing procedure including specimen preparation, data analysis and provide information on the preparation of a tests report.

This paper presents an overview of the different earth building techniques, the latest innovations and the normative aspects. The oldest man made earth constructions known to exist date back to 10 000 BC. Since then, earth has remained a popular building material throughout history. With time, different techniques evolved, starting from sundried adobe blocks to cob constructions, rammed earth walls and compressed earth bricks. Today these techniques are still being optimized and alternative binders, specifically adapted admixtures and surface treatments are being developed. Even though nearly one third of the world’s population lives in an earth construction, few specific building standards and testing methods exist. Many of the tests used today are based on tests for concrete and thus do not take into account the complex nature of earth constructions, such as their sensitivity to water. RILEM, the union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures, set up a new Technical Committee in 2016: TC TCE (Testing and Characterisation of Earth-based building materials and elements). This committee, consisting of an international group of experts on the topic, aim to define testing procedures for earth as a building construction material. To end with, this paper also gives a short introduction to “Deep soil mixing”, an “earth” building technique dedicated to geotechnical engineering.

Alkali-activated cements, including ‘geopolymer’ materials, are now reaching commercial uptake in various parts of the world, providing the opportunity to produce concretes of good performance and with reduced environmental footprint compared to established technologies. The development of performance-based specifications for alkali-activated cements and concretes is ongoing in several jurisdictions. However, the technical rigour, and thus practical value, of a performance-based approach to specification of novel cements and concretes will inevitably depend on the availability of appropriate, reliable testing methods, particularly regarding key aspects of durability where degradation mechanisms may be complex and depend on the chemistry and microstructure of the binder. This paper will briefly discuss the activities of RILEM Technical Committee 247-DTA in working to validate durability testing standards for alkali-activated materials, bringing scientific insight into the development of appropriate specifications for these materials.

This special section of the IEEE Journal of Electron Devices Society is dedicated to select papers presented at the 2018 IEEE S3S Conference, which was held Oct. 15–18, 2018 in Burlingame, CA, USA. The papers were selected based their technical merits and relevance to the Journal and with the feedback from the Technical Committee of the conference and session chairs.