This grant provides travel support for students and young investigators to attend and present their research at the 16th US National Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (USNCTAM). The congress will be held June 27 - July 2, 2010 at The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, PA. The funding will be used to help defray registration, hotel, food, and transportation costs of roughly 20 students and young investigators presenting their research at the Congress. Recipients will be selected by the organizers based on an application and review process that considers need and contribution. By encouraging the participation of the next generation of researchers, who typically have limited financial resources for conference travel, the long range interests of NSF in maintaining an engaged research workforce are served.
Mechanics is a dynamic and evolving area of research with impacts in broad areas such as advanced transportation materials, energy storage and generation, and human health care. Fifteen professional societies belong to the US National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (USNC/TAM)?the nonfinancial underwriting agency of the Congress. USNC/TAM represents the interests of the United States in international scientific activities relating to the field of mechanics, specifically to the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM). The committee is the focal point for the U.S. engineering, scientific, and mathematical communities working in mechanics and serves as the national forum for defining major issues in mechanics research, technology, and education. The proposed travel support provides the financial means for young researchers to attend the Congress, intermingle with leading researchers, and advance their professional and intellectual development in areas of national importance.
(USNCTAM), held every four years in the United States, is the premier US-focused forum for the discussion and dissemination of recent advances in all areas of mechanics. The 16th USNCTAM was held June 27 - July 2, 2010 at The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, PA. Judith A. Todd, Charles E. Bakis, and Joseph P. Cusumano, all of the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department of Penn State University, served as General Chair, Technical Program Chair, and Technical Program Vice-Chair, respectively. Approximately 60 symposia were held in 202 parallel sessions covering topics in solids, fluids, dynamics, biomechanics, and computational mechanics. Abstracts of up to two pages in length were reviewed and compiled in an indexed CD-ROM. A total of 913 papers were accepted for presentation at the Congress. A total of 822 scholars from 30 different countries attended the Congress. The purpose of this grant was to provide travel support for students and early-career researchers to attend and present their research at the Congress. The funding was used to help defray registration, hotel, food, and transportation costs. Awards were based on applications submitted prior to the Congress, and were mostly contingent on the awardee presenting his or her work in person. Based on an average award of $400 per awardee, twenty-five young investigators were supported by this grant. As well, similar grants provided by three other funding agencies besides NSF enabled travel support to be provided to an additional 75 young investigators. By encouraging the participation of the next generation of researchers who typically have limited financial resources for conference travel, the long range interests of the mechanics community are served.
