CONF-FMCE 2026

Title:

Smart City and Infrastructure Engineering

Date:

October 9th, 2026 (UTC-6)

Organizer:

ITM Department, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA

Symposium Chair:

Dr. Marwan Omar

Associate Professor in Illinois Institute of Technology

Personal Bio:

Dr. Marwan Omar's academic career has consistently focused on applied, industry-relevant cyber security, data analytics, machine learning, application of AI to cyber security and digital forensics research and education that delivers real-world results. He brings a unique combination of industry experience as well as teaching experience gained from teaching across different cultures and parts of the world. He has an established self-supporting program in machine learning application to cyber security. He has established a respectable research record in AI and cyber security exemplified in the dozens of published papers and book chapters that have gained recognition among researchers and practitioners (more than 272 Google scholar citations thus far). He is actively involved in graduate as well as undergraduate machine learning education including curriculum development and assessment.

Dr. Omar has recently published two books with Springer on Machine Learning and Cyber Security and has also published research with IEEE conference on Sematic Computing. Additionally, Dr. Omar holds numerous industry certifications including Comptia Sec+, ISACA CDPSE, EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker, and SANS Advanced Smartphone Forensics Analyst.

Dr. Omar has been very active and productive in both academia as well as the industry and he is currently serving as an associate professor of cyber security at Illinois Institute of Technology.

Call for Papers

Background:

Disasters—both natural and human-induced—continue to escalate in frequency, scale, and complexity, driven by climate change, rapid urbanization, infrastructure interdependencies, and global connectivity. These events result in substantial human, economic, and environmental losses, underscoring the urgent need to shift from reactive disaster response toward proactive, intelligence-driven disaster prevention and mitigation strategies.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative enabler in addressing these challenges. Advances in machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, natural language processing, and predictive analytics enable the analysis of massive, heterogeneous data streams—including satellite imagery, sensor data, social media, weather models, and infrastructure telemetry—to detect early warning signals, assess vulnerabilities, and forecast disaster impacts with increasing accuracy. AI-powered models can support hazard prediction (e.g., floods, wildfires, earthquakes), optimize evacuation planning, enhance damage assessment, and enable adaptive resource allocation before and during disaster events.

Despite its potential, the adoption of AI in disaster prevention and mitigation remains uneven. Challenges include limited access to high-quality data, model interpretability, algorithmic bias, integration with legacy emergency management systems, cybersecurity risks, and the lack of operational frameworks that translate AI research into deployable solutions. Furthermore, many disaster-prone and underserved communities lack the technical capacity to leverage AI-driven tools effectively.

This symposium aims to bridge these gaps by providing a dedicated forum for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and technologists to explore how AI can be responsibly designed, deployed, and governed for disaster prevention and mitigation. By emphasizing practical use cases, ethical considerations, and cross-sector collaboration, the symposium seeks to advance resilient, scalable, and inclusive AI-enabled approaches to disaster risk reduction across diverse hazard and geographic contexts.

Goal/Rationale:

The primary goal of this symposium is to advance the effective and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance disaster prevention and mitigation across natural, technological, and human-induced hazard contexts. The symposium aims to move beyond theoretical discussions by fostering practical, interdisciplinary collaboration that translates AI research into deployable, real-world solutions for disaster risk reduction.

A key objective is to equip participants with a comprehensive understanding of how AI techniques—such as machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, geospatial analytics, and predictive modeling—can be applied to early warning systems, risk assessment, infrastructure monitoring, and impact forecasting. The symposium seeks to highlight successful case studies and emerging tools that demonstrate how AI can improve situational awareness, optimize resource allocation, and support data-driven decision-making before disasters occur.

Another goal is to address critical challenges associated with AI adoption in disaster contexts, including data quality and availability, model interpretability, bias and fairness, cybersecurity risks, and ethical and governance considerations. By engaging experts from academia, industry, emergency management, and public policy, the symposium will promote shared understanding of best practices for building trustworthy and resilient AI systems.

The symposium also aims to foster capacity building and knowledge transfer, particularly for practitioners and communities in disaster-prone or resource-constrained regions. Through guided discussions and collaborative sessions, participants will identify gaps, research opportunities, and actionable frameworks for integrating AI into disaster preparedness and mitigation planning.

Ultimately, the symposium seeks to catalyze sustained collaboration, inspire innovative AI-driven approaches, and contribute to the development of scalable, inclusive strategies that strengthen disaster resilience at local, regional, and global levels.

Scope and Information for Participants:

This symposium is designed to provide participants with a comprehensive and practical exploration of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be leveraged to support disaster prevention and mitigation efforts across diverse hazard domains. The scope of the symposium spans natural disasters (e.g., floods, wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes), technological and industrial accidents, public health emergencies, and cyber-physical infrastructure disruptions. Emphasis is placed on pre-disaster risk reduction, early warning, preparedness, and mitigation rather than post-event response alone.

The symposium will cover a broad range of AI-driven techniques and applications, including predictive modeling, geospatial and satellite image analysis, sensor data fusion, anomaly detection, simulation and forecasting, and decision-support systems for emergency planning. Participants will engage with real-world case studies that illustrate how AI has been used to identify vulnerabilities, forecast impacts, prioritize mitigation actions, and improve resilience at community and infrastructure levels.

This symposium is intended for an interdisciplinary audience, including researchers, students, emergency management professionals, policymakers, infrastructure operators, urban planners, public health practitioners, and industry technologists. Participants are not expected to have advanced expertise in AI; introductory concepts will be provided where necessary, while advanced discussions will address system integration, scalability, ethics, and governance. Participants will benefit from interactive discussions, knowledge sharing, and guided exploration of best practices, challenges, and emerging research directions. By the end of the symposium, attendees will have a clearer understanding of AI’s capabilities and limitations in disaster prevention and mitigation, as well as actionable insights for applying AI-driven approaches within their own professional or research contexts.

Topics:

The main topics of this symposium are listed below.

Civil Engineering

  • Bridge Engineering
  • Cartography and Geographic Information System
  • Computational Mechanics
  • Disaster Prevention and Mitigation
  • Environment-Friendly Construction and Development
  • Geological Engineering
  • Heating, Gas Supply, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Works
  • Monitoring and Control of Structures
  • Reliability and Durability of Structures
  • Seismic Engineering
  • Structural Engineering
  • Structural Rehabilitation, Retrofitting and Strengthening
  • Surveying Engineering
  • Tunnel, Subway and Underground Facilities
  • Water Supply and Drainage Engineering

Meanwhile, submissions aligned with the overall conference theme are also welcome.

Transportation Engineering

  • Carrier Operation Engineering
  • ITS Theory and Applications
  • Low-carbon Transportation Technology
  • Modern Logistics System Planning and Optimization
  • Road and Railway Engineering
  • Transportation and Social Economic Development
  • Transportation Planning, Construction and Operation Organization

Functional Materials

  • Advanced Materials and Technologies
  • Advanced Materials Processing and 3D Printing
  • Advanced Nanomaterials and Graphene
  • Biomaterials
  • Electric and Magnetic Materials
  • Emerging Materials
  • Energy Materials
  • Glasses, Ceramics and Composites
  • Material Mechanics and Structure
  • Material Thermodynamics
  • Metal and Alloy
  • Optic and Acoustic Materials
  • Polymer Science and Engineering
  • Semiconductors and Super Conductors
  • Smart Materials and Structures

Energy Engineering

  • Alternative Fuels
  • Hydroelectric and Geothermal Power
  • Integrated Energy Systems
  • Nanotechnology Applications
  • Nuclear Materials and Fuels
  • Solar Cell Technology
  • Solar Electricity and PV Applications
  • Solar Thermal Applications
  • Machine Design
  • Mechanical CAD/CAM
  • Mechanical Power Engineering
  • Mechanical Dynamics
  • Integrated Manufacturing
  • Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics

Submission:

Prospective authors are kindly invited to submit full papers that include title, abstract, introduction, tables, figures, conclusion and references. It is unnecessary to submit an abstract in advance. Please submit your papers in English.

Each paper should be no less than 4 pages. One regular registration can cover a paper of 6 pages, and additional pages will be charged. Please format your paper well according to the conference template before submission. Paper Template Download

Please prepare your paper in both .doc/.docx and .pdf format and submit your full paper by email with both formats attached directly to [email protected]

Important Dates:

Process Date & Time
Submission Deadline October 02, 2026
Symposium Date October 09, 2026
Notification of Acceptance 7-20 workdays

Publication:

Accepted papers of the symposium will be published in Applied and Computational Engineering (ACE) (Print ISSN 2755-2721), and will be submitted to Conference Proceedings Citation Index (CPCI), Crossref, CNKI, Portico, Google Scholar, and other databases for indexing. The situation may be affected by factors among databases like processing time, workflow, policy, etc.

Publication info

Title: Applied and Computational Engineering (ACE)
Press: EWA Publishing, United Kingdom
ISSN: 2755-2721 2755-273X (electronic)

This symposium is organized by CONF-FMCE 2026 and it will independently proceed the submission and publication process.

* The papers will be exported to production and publication on a regular basis. Early-registered papers are expected to be published online earlier.

Ways to Participate

Venue:

Illinois Institute of Technology, 10 W 35th St, Chicago, IL 60616

Attend in Person:

If you want to attend the symposium on-site, please email [email protected]. The symposium seats are limited. Both contributors and non-contributors who wish to participate in the symposium in person need to apply to the symposium organizers.

VISA:

U.S. Visas (state.gov)

In order to ensure the information is correct and up to date, there may be changes which we are not aware of. And different countries have different rules for the visa application. It is always a good idea to check the latest regulations in your country. This page just gives some general information of the visa application.

US Visa Information

The B-1/B-2 visitor visa is for people traveling to the United States temporarily for business (B-1) or for pleasure or medical treatment (B-2). Generally, the B-1 visa is for travelers consulting with business associates; attending scientific, educational, professional, or business conventions/conferences; settling an estate; or negotiating contracts. The B-2 visa is for travel that is recreational in nature, including tourism; visits with friends or relatives; medical treatment; and activities of a fraternal, social, or service nature. Often, the B-1 and B-2 visas are combined and issued as one visa: the B-1/B-2.

Application Items

If you apply for a business/tourist visa, you must pay your $160 application fee and submit the following:

  • A Nonimmigrant Visa Electronic Application (DS-160) Form. Visit the DS-160 web page for more information about the DS-160.
  • A passport valid for travel to the United States with a validity date at least six months beyond your intended period of stay in the United States (unless country-specific agreements provide exemptions). If more than one person is included in your passport, each person desiring a visa must submit an application.
  • One (1) 2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm) photograph taken within the last six months.
  • If a visa is issued, there may be an additional visa issuance reciprocity fee, depending on your nationality.

In addition to these items, you must present an interview appointment letter confirming that you booked an appointment through this service. You may also bring whatever supporting documents you believe support the information provided to the consular officer.

Supporting Documents

  • Invitation letter from business or school.
  • Detailed CV or resume including a list of publications.
  • Complete itinerary, including all meetings, conferences, and visits; include names, addresses, and telephone numbers of your hosts.
  • For other materials, please refer to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate website.

NOTICE:

Should your application be denied, the organizing committee cannot change the decision of visa officer, nor will CONF-FMCE engage in discussion or correspondence with the visa application center on behalf of the applicant. The registration fee CANNOT be refunded when the VISA application of individual being denied.