Message from Chair 2026

First of all, I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year from all of us at the British Society for Strain Measurement (BSSM). We had a fantastic year in 2025 with the breadth of topics and activities from across the Society proving as popular as ever. Our annual conference, held at Imperial College London in September of 2025, was a very successful and memorable event. It included inspiring invited lectures, lab tours of experimental facilities at Imperial, a dedicated postgraduate workshop and a two-day exhibition of the latest equipment. In 2025, we also had a very active events program which included: a workshop to mark 25 Years of the Contour Method for Residual Stress Mapping (at the Open University); an XRD Workshop (at NPL); a Digital Twin Workshop (at UKEA Culham); and a Neutron Diffraction and Imaging workshop (at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory).

In terms of events for 2026, we also have an exciting dairy of events planned. I would like to take this opportunity to share some of the forthcoming events already in the calendar.

Our Workshop on Experimental Mechanics, at the University of Bristol, is an established and well attended annual course, which will take place during January and February. It includes weekly online lectures from 22nd January and a 2.5 day in-person lab-based component from 23rd to 25th February. This is a fantastic training opportunity to learn advanced experimental mechanics methods including non-contact imaging and non-destructive evaluation techniques as well as a combination of other methods to determine strain in components and structures. 

A Digital Image Correlation (DIC) workshop, a second Digital Twin Workshop and a Residual Stress using XRD workshop are all planned for 2026.   Up-to-date details of all our events will be available at www.bssm.org/events. We have had fantastic feedback from across the Society in highlighting areas of interest and need. Therefore, there are plenty more themes for upcoming events to look forward to. Please let us know if you would like to chair a future workshop.

The BSSM's 20th International Conference on Advances in Experimental Mechanics will take place at the Swansea Arena in Wales from 8th – 10th September 2026, chaired by Prof. Hari Arora of Swansea University. The conference will bring together internationally leading researchers across a wide range of disciplines in both academia and industry, to exchange ideas and discuss new research. Conference highlights include the Annual Exhibition of Experimental Mechanics (EMex26) where delegates can review the very latest experimental equipment and interact with experts.  Corporate members can benefit from reduced rates for exhibiting and free of charge inserts in our conference delegate bags. Please contact info@bssm.org for further information. The Measurements Lecture at the 2026 conference will be delivered by Prof. Mike Sutton of the University of South Carolina, USA. Other conference highlights include the BSSM's Young Stress Analyst Competition (YSA), the Fylde Strain Best Paper Lecture and two additional Keynote Lectures.  In 2026, we are also planning to update the way in which we select the Measurement's Lecturer each year and we will be inviting members to put forward recommendations for consideration by the relevant BSSM committee.

For early career researchers, we also have our Postgraduate Experimental Mechanics (PGEM) workshop. The 10th PGEM meeting will take place on the day before the main conference in Swansea this year (i.e. 7th Sept 2026). This is a fantastic opportunity for early career researchers to network and develop their skills in a relaxed environment.

Our training, certification courses and exams on strain gauging continue to be extremely popular with extra training and assessment sessions needing to be booked in with our Certification Committee. Dates for 2026 are now available here. There are a host of courses, workshops and events in the calendar that can enhance your continuing professional development, knowledge, and awareness across experimental mechanics techniques.

Membership renewals for 2026 will be sent out shortly, I hope you will once again continue your support of the BSSM.

As a BSSM member, you would receive benefits including reduced rates for attending BSSM and co-sponsored events. There are also many other benefits, and a full list can be found at www.bssm.org/membership.  We also welcome members' views and involvement.

Please continue to promote our events to your contacts. Your support for continued engagement across the community is vital to ensure advancement and maintenance of good experimental mechanics practice and knowledge exchange. I wish you all the best for 2026 and look forward to seeing you soon.

Best wishes,

Prof. Daniel Mulvihill 

BSSM Chair