With the presence of over 300 participants from 19 countries, the International Symposium of the Association of Structural Engineers of Serbia 2024 was successfully held. Representatives from the academic community, the construction industry, companies supporting the ASES, scientists, researchers, and engineers – with a diversity of participant profiles and content, the ASES Symposium lived up to the (high) expectations.

There were five keynote presentations on topics such as bridges, vibrations, FRP structures, rehabilitation, and the impact of steel and concrete structures on the environment, all of which garnered great attention from the professional audience. The keynote speakers were Kilian Karius, Vitomir Racić, Marko Pavlović, Snežana Marinković, and Radenko Pejović.

Traditional awards and recognitions were presented:

The Award for Best Professional Achievement was given to Dimitrije Aleksić, Milan Pandrc, Šerif Dunica, and Saša Stošić for the Project: "STATION BUILDING WITHIN THE 'BELGRADE CENTER' RAILWAY STATION COMPLEX." The Award for Best Scientific Achievement was given to Isidora Jakovljević, Andrija Zorić, and Nikola Rajić. Special recognitions were also awarded to Distinguished Members, Boško Stevanović and Dragoslav Stojić.

The proceedings contain a total of 89 papers – 5 keynote presentations, 4 awarded papers, and 80 scheduled to be presented in the working sessions. Special attention was given to young authors, whose presentations were evaluated by a four-member jury based on the following criteria: 1) presentation (clarity, structure, consistency between oral and visual presentation), 2) technical competencies (objectives, methods, results), 3) motivation, and 4) relevance, i.e., the significance of the topic. The awarded colleagues are: Nadica Angova Kolevska, Maja Ranisavljević, and Milica Petrović, who will have the opportunity to present their extended and revised papers in the "Building Materials and Structures" journal, co-published by ASES.

Out of 26 papers planned for presentation in the poster session, 23 were exhibited, with special recognition at the symposium's closing ceremony for awardees Ivan Nackov and Stefan Mitrović.

The roundtable discussion on the topic: "Towards the Mandatory Use of BIM in Structural Engineering" attracted a large number of participants and sparked a lively discussion. It is evident that there is a need for more discussions on this topic, with the organization of panels and consultations suggested for that purpose.

The final session of the Symposium was a panel discussion titled: "Current Scientific Projects from Serbia and the Region – Opportunities for Application and Exploitation of Results." The main speakers were the vice-deans for science of the faculties of civil engineering in Zagreb and Belgrade, Ana Baričević and Miroslav Marjanović, as well as representatives of companies from Serbia: STRABAG – Marko Radulović, PENTA GE CO – Mihajlo Ristić, and PUT INŽENJERING – Denis Milenović.