This grant provides funding for a technical team of 12 faculty members from 11 universities to travel to India and conduct a three-day US-India Workshop on fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites including two short courses. This event will take place in conjunction with the International Conference and Exhibition on Reinforced Plastics (ICERP) 2008, Mumbai, India from 7th to 9th February, 2008. More specifically, US delegates will: 1) conduct US-India Workshop on FRP Composites; 2) develop strategies for collaborative R&D work with faculty and graduate students from prestigious Indian universities, including Indian Institutes of Technology (half a day); and 3) teach two short courses (half-a-day each). The workshop effort will culminate into recommending strategies for collaborative research and development activities with Indian faculty and graduate students, and developing educational programs such as short courses, conferences, exchange of faculty and graduate students, and text book collaborations. The workshop will also help promote US experiences and success stories on advanced FRP composites to rapidly growing FRP composites industries and markets in India, with a view point of US composites industry penetrating into Indian markets.
Upon completion of the workshop, a final report summarizing research and educational activities will be submitted to NSF. In particular, the report will present a state-of-the-art of research, development, applications/field implementation and growth potential of FRP composites in India and US. The emphasis will be on composite industry future in India and collaborative issues with US composites industry. Several research topics and action items will be identified for potential collaborations between respective US universities and Indian universities and institutes. The final report will also be posted to the CFC Web/Internet site (www.cemr.wvu.edu/cfc). In addition, the workshop findings and outcomes will be presented at Polymer Composites Conference V to be organized by CFC in spring 2009 for those working in FRP composites in US.
