This issue of the journal is dedicated to the memory of an academician of the Latvian Academy of Sciences Professor Rolands Rickards (1942-2022), who made a great contribution to the creation of the fundamentals of the mechanics of composite materials and structures, as well as the Latvian scientific school of researchers in this direction. The commemorative issue includes 15 articles written by famous scientists from Armenia, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and USA.