THEORETICAL AND APPLIED MECHANICS TURKISH NATIONAL COMMITTEE

THEORETICAL AND APPLIED MECHANICS TURKISH NATIONAL COMMITTEE

TUMTMK

When I was asked by Prof. Dr. Yalçın Aköz to write the history of TUMTMK due to my long years of service on the Board of Directors, I went to TUMTMK's web page to find out what has been written about the committee so far and what information has been conveyed to the reader. At the end of this short review, I saw that many articles containing information about the work of the committee, including the people who have been in the administration since the establishment of the committee, have been prepared. Therefore, in order to avoid repetition, I thought it might be more interesting to go back further and mention the initiatives taken during the establishment of the Committee and the relations with IUTAM. However, the scarcity of written documents from those years made this task a bit difficult. For this reason, I have prepared the following article by mixing the few documents I could find with the memories I have heard during conversations with my scientific colleagues with whom we have been working for years, but which are not in the form of written documents. Thus, instead of a history based only on place, time and names, a narrative history of the founding of the Committee has emerged, which you will read below.

Undoubtedly, in such an article there may be omissions and perhaps erroneous transmissions. I apologize in advance for this. As I mentioned above, since many of the lines in the article are based on excerpts compiled from memories I have listened to many years ago, I am not in a position to show documents to the person who will ask questions about some parts of the article. We can add any information and writings on the subject here later. I would like to start my historical article by thanking you in advance for your help.

In the first paragraph of the first article of the Regulation of the Turkish National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics;

"A National Committee has been established on the basis of Article 6 (g) of the "Universities Act" No. 1750 and in accordance with Chapter III of the statutes of the "International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics" (IUTAM), headquartered in the premises of the Technical University of Denmark in Lyngby, Denmark."

"The first general assembly shall be held at the first general assembly. On the last page of the same regulation, in a provisional article on the first general assembly

The "First General Assembly" shall be composed of the members of the Enterprising Committee and shall hold its first meeting after the final establishment of the National Committee, notwithstanding the June deadline in Article 8."

and the persons constituting the "Enterprising Committee" are defined as

• Prof. Dr. Adnan Çakıroğlu (Yürütücü) (İTÜ)
• Prof. Dr. Murat Dikmen (İTÜ)
• Prof. Dr. İlhan Kayan (İTÜ)
• Doç. Dr. Fikret Kortel (BÜ)
• Prof. Dr. Hasan Özoklav (İTÜ)
• Prof. Dr. Erdoğan Şuhubi (İTÜ)
• Doç. Dr. Akın Tezel (BÜ)

names are given. A note on the same page states that this regulation was approved at the 14th meeting of the Council of Higher Education on August 31, 1976 and that the National Committee was established.

As can be seen from this brief information, the Turkish National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics -TUMTMK-, which today has eighty-eight members working in various universities and similar research institutions in Turkey, was established approximately twenty-four years ago with the efforts of the seven scientists named above and has continued its work uninterruptedly until today.

When the question of what are the duties of such a committee comes to mind, it can be answered by giving examples of similar committees around the world and listing the tasks that come to mind one after the other, or, without going into too much detail, one can also look at the TUMTUK's by-laws. In the following paragraphs of the first article of this regulation, the duties of the committee are written as follows:

to establish a link between people engaged in scientific research (theoretical or experimental) in the field of mechanics or allied sciences and national or international organizations,

To organize International Congresses of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and to organize other international meetings on topics in the field of theoretical and applied mechanics through the Permanent Committee of Congresses,

To take any other initiatives that may contribute to the scientific development of theoretical and applied mechanics.

Indeed, the National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, which was established by law in 1976, has tried to fulfill these duties without interruption in the intervening twenty-four years and has organized congresses, summer schools and symposiums in line with its objectives with the self-sacrificing efforts of its members, adopting the principle of reaching the researchers in the most remote point of Turkey. Thus, it has endeavored to bring together researchers in the field of mechanics who are trying to carry out their studies alone in various regions of the country, to create a common platform, and has come to this day by taking great care to maintain the continuity of its work on this subject.

We all know very well that when setting up such a committee, many tedious bureaucratic procedures must be carried out without delay. The establishment of the Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics was no different. In addition to the need to patiently and thoroughly go through a series of procedures, people had to be reminded of the events, convinced, their consent had to be obtained and then, as a second step, IUTAM membership had to be realized, which was not easy. The aforementioned "Enterprising Committee" worked tirelessly and with great patience, fulfilled the requirements and TUMTMK took its place among the organizations under the umbrella of IUTAM, as desired.

However, before going into the details of the work carried out at this stage, it would be useful to go back further in the Committee-IUTAM relations. Although the Committee, which was established on August 31, 1976, became a member of IUTAM in 1977, Turkey's IUTAM membership dates back much further. It can even be said that Turkey was among the first members of IUTAM. Therefore, the aforementioned membership can be interpreted as a revitalization of Turkey's relations with IUTAM after a period of time.

Before IUTAM took shape as an international institution, researchers working on mechanics, especially at universities in Europe and the USA, sometimes came together to keep the interaction between them alive. In the early nineteen hundreds, when communication opportunities were very poor compared to today, the importance of such gatherings was perhaps even more important than today. As in other branches of science, researchers working in the field of mechanics felt this need very deeply. Since the emergence of new ideas, the discussion of studies and the formation of new working groups were among the indispensable conditions of research, researchers sometimes made extraordinary efforts to come together. Since the number of people doing research in mechanics was not very large, they initially tried to come together by attending congresses, symposia and workshops in mathematics, physics and various engineering disciplines. However, it was gradually felt that such broadly themed meetings were far from creating the necessary ground for finding a common ground in mechanics, that they did not sufficiently meet the requirements, and the idea of holding more specialized meetings was born. The first important initiative in this direction came from Van Karman, and the first preparatory meeting on the subject was held in Innsbruck, Austria in 1922, and it was decided to hold the first Congress of Applied Mechanics in Delft, the Netherlands in 1924. With the momentum gained at this meeting, the second congress was held in Zürich, Switzerland in 1926.

As in many other congress series, in these mechanical congresses, the representatives of the participating countries came together during the meeting, held a general evaluation meeting and determined the place and time of the next congress. At the meeting held in Zurich, it was argued that holding congresses every two years was not enough time for new ideas to emerge and form, and it was agreed that it would be more beneficial to extend this period and hold congresses every four years. Accordingly, the third congress was held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1930, the fourth in Cambridge, England in 1934 and the fifth in Cambridge, USA in 1938.

The second world war, which broke out after the fifth congress, affected all of humanity as well as the mechanics congresses, which had been held every four years, and the congress could not be held for a while. Thus, the sixth congress could only be held in Paris in 1946, after the end of the war. This congress has a special feature for IUTAM. Because the 1946 Congress was the birth congress of the IUTAM organization.

The meetings held until the V Congress were naturally organized by the national organizing committees of the countries where the congresses were held. According to the accounts of IUTAM history, at a special meeting held at the Paris Congress, it was decided that these local organizing committees, which organized the six meetings held between 1924 and 1946, should be defined as the National Mechanical Committees of those countries. This point seems to be very important. Because in this way, in this meeting, the national committees that organized these international meetings, which were sometimes held to bring together researchers working in the field of mechanics, were in a sense defined as organizations that opposed today's national mechanical committees and the foundation of IUTAM was laid. In other words, with this kind of structuring, the definitions of national committees on the basis of countries were becoming clearer, and opinions were expressed in the direction of creating an umbrella organization that would cover all of them in order to ensure their coordination and working order, or in other words, the idea that it would be appropriate to define an international organization was gaining weight in this meeting. At the end of the discussions in this direction, the decision was taken and IUTAM, the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, was established at the VIth Congress. At the same meeting, the National Committees working separately were accepted as the first members of IUTAM.

Again, from the documents in our possession, we can learn that Kerim Erim from Turkey attended the Vth Congress of IUTAM held in the USA in 1938, but we do not know exactly who from Turkey attended the congress in 1946, the congress where IUTAM was founded. But we can say that Kerim Erim, Cahit Arf, Mustafa İnan and Cemal Eringen attended the congress in 1946. There were probably other participants as well. But since we do not have any definite information, I think it would not be right to mention any other names here by dwelling on possibilities. There is a very justifiable reason to think that the number of participants from Turkey should have been much higher. As will be mentioned below, since it was decided at the seventh congress held in London in 1948 that the next congress would be held in Istanbul, one can conclude that the participation from Turkey in the VI and VII congresses should have been much higher. But even though we cannot say much about the participation, the decision to hold the congress in Turkey leads us to the conclusion that Turkey was among the first IUTAM members.

After the establishment of IUTAM, we see that the connection between the researchers working in the field of mechanics has been much better established, various organizations have been organized much more regularly, and the range of both countries and subjects has been greatly expanded. However, without going into these details here, we would like to return to the general congresses, which are of great importance for us.

In accordance with the decision taken at the VIth Congress in Paris, the VIIth Congress was organized in London, England in 1948 under the presidency of R.V. Southwell. As in the other congresses, the representatives of the National Mechanics Committees, in other words the IUTAM representatives of the countries participating in the meeting, came together in this congress in London in 1948 and discussed the place where the next congress would be held. According to the records, there were two proposals for this from the Belgian and Turkish members, these proposals were discussed, a vote was asked to be taken, but still no definite conclusion was reached in a short time. Later, at the initiative of Prof. Dr. F. H. van den Dungen, the Belgian group withdrew their proposal, stating that they would take it upon themselves to organize the IXth Congress. Thus, it was decided that the VIIIth Congress would be held in Istanbul in 1952 and Dr. Kerim Erim was appointed as the convener of the Istanbul Congress.

In 1949, Dr. Kerim Erim formed a local organizing committee of 16 people, including Cahit Arf and Mustafa İnan, and started working. Some time before the congress was held on August 20-28, 1952, Dr. Erim suffered a heart attack and was unable to actively participate in the meeting. But with the devoted work of the other members of the organizing committee, the 1952 Istanbul Congress was a great success.

Mr. Kerim, who was the architect of the relations between IUTAM and the National Committee, could not take active roles in the National Committee after the Istanbul congress due to his illness. In the meantime, we see that Prof. Dr. Ratıp Berker was more active in the committee, along with other young members. Nevertheless, it is not easy to say that there was a great interaction between IUTAM and the Turkish National Committee in the following years. The growing problems of Turkey in general and Turkish Universities in particular in the fifties, especially in the second half of the decade, must be the reason for the weakening of this relationship. It is a fact that the National Committee, which had no income at all, increasingly had difficulties even in paying the annual IUTAM dues. When all these difficulties are added to the shortage of qualified staff, course loads at universities, and the aggravating working and living conditions, it becomes clear that the gap between Turkey and the universities in the USA, Europe and elsewhere is widening. It is only natural that these unfavorable conditions and the realities of the country affect the work of the committee. While universities are trying to cope with daily and general problems, it would be unrealistic to expect a few individuals to completely detach themselves from the general situation and maintain the Committee-IUTAM relations by fulfilling all the requirements. In the light of these indicators, it is not difficult to understand that the relations between IUTAM and the Turkish National Committee have weakened considerably in this period and have gradually reached the point of breaking down.

As far as we know, at the end of the sixties, this connection was completely severed and the Turkish National Committee was even to the point of being expelled from IUTAM due to the problem of dues payment. In 1972, F.I.Niordson, the Secretary General of IUTAM at the time, expressed his regret about the situation and asked Dr. Fazıl Erdoğan, whom he met at a meeting, what could be done and asked him to help. He said that he only knew the name of Prof. Erdoğan Şuhubi from Turkey because of his publications on mechanics and asked him to convey this situation to him and to convey to him that he wished to help him in making relations active again as before. After Prof. Dr. Fazıl Erdoğan conveyed the matter to Prof. Shuhubi, a new period of revival began between IUTAM and Turkey, but it is not easy to say that this revival was a quick return to life. All possibilities and possibilities were reviewed and applications were made to the necessary places, but as I mentioned above, many obstacles had to be overcome in these years before the National Committee could be established and start its work. As it is known, Law No. 1750 had come into force at that time and this law allowed for the establishment of National Committees. But I have no doubt that we all know very well that even if the law allows it, even if we know that the result will be good, it takes a real hurdler to overcome the problems that are interspersed on the long road between the idea of creating a new institution and its realization. But the good news here is that the obstacles to the establishment of this National Committee have not deterred those who have taken the initiative and they have remained persistent. After meeting with Dr. Erdoğan, Dr. Şuhubi raised the issue with Prof. Murat Dikmen, who was working at the Middle East Technical University at the time. He asked him to be among the new founders, saying that since he was in Ankara, he could follow the proceedings much more easily. Prof. Dr. Murat Dikmen, who was pleased with this suggestion, really made an extraordinary effort with his enterprising nature and did his best to speed up the work as much as possible. Working with the "Entrepreneurial Committee", whose names we have listed above, he continued to work for the establishment of today's National Committee. All these efforts yielded positive results, but it still took time for the committee to be structured and legally established and it took until 1976. Finally, the Turkish National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, which was re-established according to Law No. 1750, quickly repaired the irregularities in its relations with IUTAM and put our membership on a realistic basis. Since then, with the efforts of all the committees that have come to power, our relations have been carried out in an orderly manner.

Since 1977, TUMTMK has continuously developed its program and worked devotedly to spread its activities throughout the country. In the meantime, I would like to give the names of the members of the first board of directors of the Turkish National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics here once again. I believe that this group, who worked with great devotion, should be especially included in this article, which is similar to the story of the establishment of TUMTMK. Members of the "Enterprising Committee"

Prof.Dr. Murat DİKMEN (Chairman), Prof.Dr. S.Erdoğan ŞUHUBİ (Vice Chairman),

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Akın TEZEL (Secretary General),

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fikret KORTEL (Treasurer)

The first Board of Directors was formed and made great efforts to overcome the initial problems. In addition, this Board of Directors laid the foundations for many of the activities that continue to this day, established the necessary commissions and working groups, and carried out all their work without interruption during their tenure. We all owe them a debt of gratitude. We hope that the new members of our committee will continue their work with the same enthusiasm.

Since the boards, members, working order and similar projects of TUMTMK following the first board of directors are included in other sections of the TUMTMK web page, I believe that there is no need to repeat them here. For this reason, I would like to conclude this article, which is similar to a history, and thank TUMTMK for its contributions to Turkish Mechanics, and I convey my regards by conveying my wish that the success graph it has shown since 1977 will increase its slope.

Esin İnan

07/04/2000

TUMTMK

TUMTMK (Theoretical and Applied Turkish National Committee) was established on December 10, 1976 by a founding group of seven members, as described in the History section. The purpose of its establishment was primarily to develop mechanics in our country by providing solidarity and cooperation among mechanics. After its establishment, the Committee became a member of IUTAM (1976) and added a universal dimension to its purpose. Thus, before our country became a candidate for the European Union, TUMTMK entered the European Union.

Later in 1994, it became a member of ECCOMAS. In order to realize its objectives, TUMTMK has organized biennial scientific meetings such as National Mechanics Congresses, Differential Equations Symposiums, Mechanics Summer Schools and has published ten symposium books of one or two volumes each and two volumes of Dynamics and Deformable Bodies books on the topics followed in the summer schools.

Our Committee registers members on a duty basis. As of December 1999, the Committee has 81 members. In order to carry out the planned tasks, new members can be added to the committee upon the proposal of the members and the decision of the Board of Directors. Our committee is maintained with the devoted efforts of our members. Our committee does not have a budget or a secretary to carry out its bureaucratic work. As the objectives grow, the need for a permanent office and working staff becomes more evident. To solve problems, it is necessary to think together and join forces. Today, computer technology is the most viable way to expand the platform for working together and to give continuity to the work. Our first application was realized by publishing the announcements and programs of the XIth National Mechanical Congress after Prof. Dr. Nüzhet Dalfes, the head of ITU Computer Center and a member of our committee, allocated a web page for our committee. The technical difficulties were overcome with the contributions of Prof. Dr. Ülgen Gülçat and his colleagues. This beginning gave us hope and it was decided to publish an electronic journal.

The electronic journal contains archival information about the committee and past work, as well as current information including news, announcements and discussions. The first article planned as a thinker's thought is "Mechanics, Science and Nature". We would like to thank Prof. Dr. Erdoğan Şuhubi for this. Finding the Turkish equivalents of mechanical terms and ensuring the unity of idioms has been one of the issues on the agenda of the committee since its establishment. Today, when the number of universities is rapidly increasing and exceeding 70, the problem has gained more importance. This problem was opened to discussion in the "Turkish Mechanical Dictionary" unit.

The electronic journal is made possible with the contributions of the Center for Education in the Virtual Environment (SANEG). For this, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Metin Demiralp, the president of SANEG, Fahrettin Önal and Ayşen Büyükakın for their continuous contributions to the publication of the journal.

I wish that the new millennium will be a period in which peace is achieved, environmental problems are solved, and science and the human mind are used more effectively.

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Dr. Yalçın Aköz