The 8th Asia-Oceania Symposium on Fire Science and Technology (AOSFST) was held at Rydges in Swanston Melbourne on 7-9 December 2010. During this symposium, the membership meeting of Asia-Oceania Association for Fire Science and Technology (AOAFST) was held on Dec. 7, 2010. At this meeting, Prof. LIU Naian from SKLFS proposed the next AOSFST to be held in China and hosted by the State Key Laboratory of Fire Science (SKLFS). This proposal has been supported. On Dec. 16, 2010, Dr. Craig L. Beyler, Chairman of International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS), sent a formal letter to invite the State Key Laboratory of Fire Science (SKLFS) of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) to host the 9th Asia-Oceania Symposium on Fire Science and Technology (AOSFST) in China.

The Symposium is one of the important activities of AOAFST, a branch organization of the International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS). It is organized once every two or three years. The 1st symposium was held in 1992 at USTC, hosted by SKLFS. It was just in that year the AAFST (the Asian Association for Fire Science and Technology) was set up. AAFST expanded in its region and changed the name to AOAFST (the Asia-Oceania Association for Fire Science and Technology) in 1995. The 8th AOSFST has just been held in Melbourne in December 2010 and the one before that in Hong Kong in September 2007.

Sponsored by AOAFST, the 9th AOSFST will attract the best and most important work of the fire safety science community everything from fundamental breakthroughs to new best practices.

--Brief overview of history of AOSFST ( refer to "Hirano T. Progress of Fire Science and Technology in Asia-oceania Region, Honorary speech to the Seventh Asia-Oceania Symposium on Fire Science and Technology."):

The first symposium organized by AAFST (the Asian Association for Fire Science and Technology) was held during the period of 9 to 13 October, 1992 at SKLFS, the University of Science and Technology of China, for celebrating the start of SKLFS. The name of the meeting was “Asian Conference on Fire Science and Technology.” During the Conference, AAFST was established. At the establishment of AAFST, it was confirmed that the AAFST should make efforts for encouraging fire researchers in Asian countries, in close cooperation with IAFSS, and that the AAFST should organize at least one meeting per year in an Asian country for keeping its activities in a high level. Also, based on successful collaboration with fire scientists and engineers of Oceanian countries, AAFST expanded in its region and changed the name to AOAFST (the Asia-Oceania Association for Fire Science and Technology) at the Second Asia-Oceania Symposium on Fire Science and Technology held during the period of 13-17 September, 1995 at the Khabarovsk State University of Technology.

Main meetings organized by AOAFST are as follows: