The objective of this Workshop is to highlight current and future multidisciplinary research on structural mechanics of deformation and fracture processes in nanostructured materials, multi-scale mechanics of fracture in solids, and structural mechanics of materials for hydrogen economy. Particular emphasis will be placed on developing close interactions among Russian and US scientists and engineers, and fostering future transdisciplinary and multi-institutional collaboration in these new and rapidly growing areas. Such interactions and collaborations are expected to have broad and long-lasting impact on the research field and on the Russian-US cooperation. This workshop aims to assess the current status and identify future priority directions of collaborative research in mechanics of advanced materials with unique mechanical properties for structural applications and hydrogen economy, thus enhancing the science and development of these novel materials. It is also the intention of the organizing committee to promote the diversity among the participants, in terms of recruiting some minority/women attendees and a mix of junior and senior scientists. This is a unique forum for promoting Russian-US collaborations and there has been no such meeting in the past in this subject area. The Workshop will be held at Palace of Scientists, St. Petersburg, Russia, May 17-19, 2006. The results of the meeting will be disseminated through the publication of the MAM 2006 Proceedings volume as a topical issue of Reviews on Advanced Materials Science.
