Congratulatory Message from Chairman of IAHR-APD, Prof. Joseph Hun-wei Lee

WASER/IAHR-APD/IRTCES Study Tour to the Three Gorges Project (TGP),8-15 August 2005, Yichang, Hubei Province , China

In 2003, the Council of the International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR) endorsed a proposal to move the Secretariat of the Asia and Pacific Division (IAHR-APD) from Bangkok to Beijing . One of the main objectives of the proposal is to provide a more active platform for academic exchange and collaboration in hydraulics among the APD countries. I am therefore particularly pleased to see the successful launching of this joint WASER/IAHR-APD/IRTCES venture, a one-week study tour of the Three Gorges Project.

During the one-week study tour, some 30 young scientists and engineers from different APD countries will obtain first hand experience of a world class engineering project, and be introduced to relevant subjects by hydraulics experts. This will no doubt be an eye-opening and most educational experience to many of the participants who will get a better appreciation of the complexity of practical hydraulics problems, and the need to combine theory and experimentation in tackling these problems. Through the many organized activities, it is hoped that the study tour will also help achieve better understanding of the different problems facing different APD countries.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the organizers of this study tour, in particular the Secretariat of the World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion (WASER) at IRTCES, for initiating this in the first place and also realizing this venture. In the coming decades, we will be facing tremendous challenges of water problems. I sincerely hope this study tour will engender further and more extensive exchange and collaborative activities among the IAHR-APD members.

Prof. Joseph Hun-wei Lee

Chairman, IAHR- APD