This book contains the proceedings of the 16th ICEC/ICMC Conference, held in Kitakyushu, Japan, on 20th-24th May 1996. The Proceedings are presented in three volumes containing a total of 476 papers from 1484 authors.

The proceedings covers the main areas of: Large Scale Refrigeration. Cryocoolers. Cryogenic Engineering. Space Cryogenics. Application of Superconductivity. Oxide Superconductors. Metallic Superconductors. Metallic Materials. Non Metallic Materials.

In addition there are seven Plenary Lectures covering such diverse topics as commercialization of high-Tc superconductors, the continuing development of the Maglev system in Japan, and the Large Hadron Collider project.

The Proceedings comprise an excellent and up-to-date summary of research and development in the fields of Cryogenics and Superconductivity.

The 20th century saw tremendous achievements and progress in science and
technology. Undoubtedly, computers and computer-related technologies acted as
one of vital catalysts for accelerating this progress in the latter half of
the century. The contributions of mathematical sciences have been equally
profound, and the synergy between mathematics and computer science has played a
key role in accelerating the progress of both fields as well as science
and engineering.

Mathematical sciences will undoubtedly continue to play this vital role in this
new century. In particular, mathematical modeling and numerical simulation will
continue to be among the essential methodologies for solving massive and
complex problems that arise in science, engineering and manufacturing. Underpinning this all from a sound, theoretical perspective will be numerical algorithms. In recognition of this observation, this volume focuses on the
following specific topics.

(1) Fundamental numerical algorithms
(2) Applications of numerical algorithms
(3) Emerging technologies.

The articles included in this issue by experts on advanced scientific and
engineering computations from numerous countries elucidate state-of-the-art achievements in these three topics from various angles and suggest the future directions. Although we cannot hope to cover all the aspects in scientific and engineering computations, we hope that the articles will interest, inform and inspire members of the science and engineering community.