This volume features the proceedings from the Summer Seminar of the Canadian Mathematical Society held at Universite Laval. The purpose of the seminar was to gather both mathematicians and engineers interested in the theory or application of plates and shells, or more generally, in the modelisation of thin structures. From this, it was hoped that a better understanding of the problem would emerge for both groups of professionals. New aspects from the mathematical point of view and new applications posing new challenges are reported. This volume offers a snapshot of the state of the art of this rapidly evolving topic.

Table of Contents:
Derivation and justification of plate models by variational methods by S. M. Alessandrini, D. N. Arnold, R. S. Falk, and A. L. Madureira Simple triangular shell elements for large strain estimations of sheet metal forming parts by J.-L. Batoz, Y. Q. Guo, and F. Mercier Some approximation methods for linear thin shell problems by M. Bernadou Numerical Numerical analysis of piezoelectric shells by M. Bernadou and C. Haenel Etude intrinseque d'un probleme de coque en grandes deformations by M. Carrive and P. Le Tallec Locking-free mixed stabilized finite element methods for bending-dominated shells by D. Chapelle and R. Stenberg Un element de coque simple a trois noeuds en grandes rotations et elastoplasticite by F. Dammak, S. Chamlal, A. Gakwaya, and G. Dhatt Intrinsic nonlinear models of shells by M. C. Delfour and J. Zhao Convergence of the linear $P$(1,1) and $P$(2,1) thin shells to asymptotic shells by M. C. Delfour and J.-P. Zolesio Two-level overlapping Schwarz methods for plate elements on unstructured meshes using non-matching coarse grids by Q. Deng and X. Feng Large elasto-plastic deformations of thin shells with application to the stamping of anisotropic sheet metal parts by J.-C. Gelin and L. Boubakar Justification of two-dimensional linear shell models by the use of $\Gamma$-convergence theory by K. Genevey Numerical simulation of high-rate stamping of tubes and sheets by S. F. Golovashchenko and N. M. Bessonov An intrinsic form of the stress resultant geometrically exact shell theory by A. Ibrahimbegovic Numerical inf-sup analysis of MITC plate bending elements by A. Iosilevich, K.-J. Bathe, and F. Brezzi Optimisation des plaques et coques by E. Pagnacco and J. E. Souza de Cursi Vibroacoustic behavior of a rectangular box by M. A. Toumour and N. Atalla Error analysis of mixed finite elements for cylindrical shells by G. Yang, M. C. Delfour, and M. Fortin.