Welcome . . .

The mission of the International Society for Terrain-Vehicle Systems (ISTVS) is:

• to advance the knowledge in terrain-vehicle systems for improvements in engineering practice and for innovation;
• in the terrain-vehicle domain, to promote the transfer of advanced knowledge to the user for the benefit of society at large in environmental protection, energy conservation, and sustainable development.

The origin of the International Society for Terrain-Vehicle Systems can be traced to the first International Conference on the Mechanics of Soil-Vehicle Systems held in 1961 in Turin, Italy. 2011 marked the fiftieth anniversary of our society. It is a great honor and pleasure for me to be able to celebrate this fifteth anniversary with all the members and parties of our society.

It can certainly be said that this fifty years has been a period in human history when remarkable technologies have been developed. Fifty years ago, for example, some advanced countries were competing to launch satellites into orbit around the earth.

Since then, humans have left their mark of the lunar surface, and unmanned probes have arrived on other planets in the solar system. We are now using information transmitted from satellites to trace the movements of people, vehicles, and ships while they fly, drive, and sail across the skies, the surface, and the oceans of the world through global positioning system

The ISTVS has contributed greatly to the development of off-the-road vehicles and soil-working machines over the past fifty years. Current vehicles and machines are equipped with many unique functions and show amazing potential. These vehicles and machines have performed important roles in building society and enriching human lives. Our ISTVS group has undoubtedly contributed to the development of this human society.

New research targets exist to bring further contributions to human society and we plan to focus on them. We have the opportunity to break fresh ground and start new activities in the next half century.

I hope that all members will reflect with pride on the great achievements of ISTVS over the past fifty years as we celebreate our fiftieth anniversary. We look forward to even greater endeavors in the next half century.

—Prof. Kazuyoshi Tateyama
ISTVS President, 2008–2011
College of Science and Engineering
Ritsumeikan University, Japan

Read more about ISTVS here.