George R. Irwin Centennial Conference will be held at the University of Maryland on March 18th, 19th, & 20th. The purpose of the conference is to recognize the contributions that George Irwin made to the engineering community through the introduction and development of linear elastic fracture mechanics. Linear elastic fracture mechanics as developed by Dr. Irwin permits the safe design and analysis of structures which contain flaws. This year (2007) would have been Dr. Irwin's 100th birthday and also happens to be the 50th anniversary of the introduction of fracture mechanics as a means of ensuring safe performance of structures which are know to contain imperfections.
The conference will feature approximately 25 speakers who are well known for their knowledge of linear elastic fracture mechanics. All of these speakers have been a large part over the years of the development of the details of linear elastic fracture mechanics. It is the intention of the conference to pass on the knowledge and experience base of these engineers and scientists to the new generations of individuals working in the area. For that reason those just beginning their careers in both industry and academia will be invited to attend the conference in an effort to pass this knowledge along to the next group of leaders in the area. Both graduate students who are well along in their academic careers and young assistant and associate professors, as well as young scientists and engineers in government and industry will be invited to attend. The conference will also be filmed and the actual presentations will be made available to others not able to attend on DVD's.
