The use for mathematical models of natural phenomena has underpinned science and engineering for centuries, but until the advent of modern computational methods and devices, the full utility of most of these models stood outside the reach of the scientific and engineering communities. After World War II, advances in computational methods have transformed the way of engineering and science throughout the world. Today, theories of mechanics of solids and fluids, electromagnetism, heat transfer, plasma physics, and other scientific disciplines are implemented through computational methods in engineering design, manufacturing, and in studying broad classes of physical phenomena. The discipline concerned with the application of computational methods and devices to these ends is called computational mechanics, and it has emerged as a key area of research, education, and application throughout the world.

The 15th World Congress on Computational Mechanics (WCCM-XV) & the 8th Asian Pacific Congress on Computational Mechanics (APCOM-VIII) is co-organized by The International Association for Computational Mechanics (IACM) and The Japan Society for Computational Engineering and Science (JSCES) in cooperation with the Asian-Pacific Association for Computational
Mechanics (APACM) and Japan Association for Computational Mechanics (JACM).

The international group of scholars and practitioners of this new discipline founded the IACM to promote advances in computational mechanics. To establish the breadth of this activity IACM defines in its constitution the field of Computational Mechanics as follows:

For the purposes of the Association we define the subject of Computational Mechanics as the development and application of numerical methods and digital computers to the solution of problems posed by Engineering and Applied Science with the objectives of understanding and harnessing the resources of nature. While Computational Solid Mechanics (CSM) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are at the core of our activity, such subjects as Thermodynamics, Electro Magnetism, Rigid Body Mechanics, Control Systems and some aspects of Particle Physics fall naturally within the scope of the definition. Indeed the provision of a common forum for discussion, education and research information transfer between the diverse disciplines represented is the main «raison d’etre» of the Association.