The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on "Thin Film and Small Scale Mechanical Behavior" will be held from 27 July to 1 August 2008, at Colby College, in Waterville, Maine. Financial support is requested to help to defray the travel costs and conference fees for invited participants, graduate students, postdocs and junior faculty members. The intellectual merit of the research is twofold: the significance of the subject to the disciplines of mechanics and materials, and the cross-disciplinary nature of the subject. The study of small-scale mechanical behavior has been a critical link between fundamental research in mechanics of materials and broad-ranging applications in modern technologies. The impetus for the significant current activity in this area comes from the need to understand the critical roles of elasticity, plasticity, time-dependent deformation, and fracture in small structures used in many modern technologies, including thin films for microelectronic, optical and MEMS devices, thermal barriers in gas turbines, and tribological coatings. It is recognized that material properties may change drastically when the specimen dimensions are small compared to certain physical and microstructural length scales. Furthermore, mechanical measurements at the nanometer or micrometer scale present significant new challenges, but also opportunities for direct comparisons to atomistic or micromechanical models. In addition, mechanical phenomena in small-scale biological structures offer enticing opportunities to researchers in materials science and applied mechanics who are investigating these phenomena with concepts and methods originating in the conventional materials community. As a result, the study of small-scale mechanical behavior remains at the forefront of research in the fields of materials science and applied mechanics. The topic of study is cross-disciplinary, resulting in fluxes of people, ideas, and tools between the discipline of mechanics and materials and neighboring disciplines, such as materials science, condensed matter physics, microelectronics, and more recently, biology. As such, this Conference draws together researchers who share common interests in the deformation and failure of thin film systems, and in the fundamental differences in the mechanical behavior of small-scale versus bulk materials. Prior meetings initiated new, unexpected research directions for many attendees. The 2008 Conference will highlight topics of lasting significance to the field (elasticity, deformation, and fracture in small structures), as well as topics of growing importance (small-scale biomechanical behavior and emerging in-situ measurement techniques). The GRC has a broad impact on knowledge dissemination and stimulation of intellectual infrastructure. A typical GRC brings together international experts on a subject from many disciplines and countries. It also brings young scholars into direct contact with these experts in an informal atmosphere. Effort is made to invite speakers and other participants who are diverse in background, gender, and race. In 2008, all speakers will be presenting at this meeting for the first time. Each invited lecture will begin with a lucid description of the background, bring the attendees to the forefront of research, and enable an extended period of discussion. The discussion leaders will represent a seasoned group who can provide overarching perspective. Finally, a group of rapporteurs very experienced people who have done distinguished work and are good at raising stimulating questions will lead summary discussions at the end of each session. For a week, graduate students, young faculty members, and seasoned researchers from academia, national laboratories, and industry will live in inexpensive dormitories on a small New England campus, and discuss stimulating topics in the lecture hall, over meals, and in front of posters. The GRC experience is unique and unforgettable: it initiates and sustains lasting scientific friendship for many people, and for quite a few it is the most stimulating meeting they attend.
