This NSF grant provides partial support for attendees of the 2012 Gordon Conference on Tribology - Paths of Dissipation, to be held July 8 - 13, 2012 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, USA. Tribology, the study of friction, wear and lubrication, is an extremely complex and multi-disciplinary field that involves processes over a wide range of size and time scales from atomic interactions to entire machines. The biennial Gordon Research Conference on Tribology is a unique forum for gathering experts in disparate fields to advance our understanding of the complex problems tribology presents. Leading scientists and engineers from universities, national laboratories and industry meet with young scientists and newcomers to tribology for one week of formal and informal discussions on state-of-the art issues. This opportunity for a lively and open exchange of new ideas shapes the future of the field. Addressing many of the great challenges in tribology will require an improved understanding of dissipation mechanisms. There remains a large gap between the scales considered by computer simulations and experiments and the dissipation mechanisms they reveal, as well as between atomistic perspectives and applied tribology. The 2012 Gordon Research Conference will highlight the coincidences and discrepancies between experiments and simulations and changes in dissipation mechanisms across the many orders of magnitude in time and length scale.
Tribology affects nearly every aspect of our daily lives and technology. Improved understanding of the paths of dissipation is expected to have a profound impact on applications in aircraft and car engines, production technology, hip and knee joints, shrinking devices to micro- and nanometer scales, and expanding the range of temperatures, speeds, and chemical environments where such devices operate. The Gordon Conference is a key mechanism for linking the basic sciences with an engineering discipline of significant importance to the US and world economies. Tribology advances require a constant input of new ideas between these researchers and disciplines. The conference also provides opportunities for young investigators, students, and those new to tribology to learn from those with a deep understanding of tribological problems and cutting edge approaches. This NSF grant provides support for conference fees and/or travel expenses that will enable key participants to attend the Gordon Conference. The conference organizers will strive for gender balance and also favor under-represented ethnic minority or disabled individuals that apply. Support from this grant will play a particularly important role in allowing attendance of students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty that otherwise be unable to participate due to lack of funds.
The Gordon Research Conference on TRIBOLOGY was held at Colby College, Waterville, Maine July 8 – 13, 2012. The Conference was well-attended with 118 participants (attendees list attached). The attendees represented the spectrum of endeavor in this field coming from academia, industry, and government laboratories, both U.S. and foreign scientists, senior researchers, young investigators, and students. Of the 118 attendees, 43 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 43 respondents, 14% were Minorities – 5% Hispanic, 0% Asian and 9% African American. Approximately 17% of the participants at the 2012 meeting were women. In designing the formal speakers program, emphasis was placed on current unpublished research and discussion of the future target areas in this field. There was a conscious effort to stimulate lively discussion about the key issues in the field today. Time for formal presentations was limited in the interest of group discussions. In order that more scientists could communicate their most recent results, poster presentation time was scheduled. Attached is a copy of the formal schedule and speaker program and the poster program. In addition to these formal interactions, "free time" was scheduled to allow informal discussions. Such discussions are fostering new collaborations and joint efforts in the field. Thank you for your support of this Conference. As you know, in the interest of promoting the presentation of unpublished and frontier-breaking research, Gordon Research Conferences does not permit publication of meeting proceedings.
