This project partially funds the 1998 Gordon Research Conference on Composite Materials to be held January 4 to 9, 1998 at the Double Tree Hotel in Ventura, California. Funds granted will be used to pay registration fees and travel expenses for invited speakers, discussion leaders, and possibly poster authors, primarily those representative of underrepresented groups in the engineering community. The Gordon Research Conference on Composite Materials is one of the few Gordon Research Conferences on a subject relevant to material science and perhaps the only Gordon Research Conference that effectively combines talks on both mechanics and materials. The atmosphere of a Gordon Research Conference, which includes ample time for informal discussions, is renown for fostering interactions between scientists working on an interdisciplinary subject like composite materials. One of the best conference experiences a scientist can have is to attend a Gordon Research Conference in his or her area of specialization. The Gordon Research Conference on Composite Materials stands out as the only opportunity that a composite scientist or a mechanics and materials scientist has to attend a Gordon conference. A broad range of speakers, poster authors, and participants have been sought out for the 1998 Gordon Research Conference on Composite Materials. The invited speakers will cover a range on interdisciplinary subjects including matrix chemistry, interfacial issues, processing problems, and mechanics and durability of composite structures. An emphasis of the 1998 conference will be placed on talks that combine mechanics and materials issues. Typical talks in these areas will be on the micromechanics of damage, on the mystery of mode II fracture, on interfacial properties, and on aging and durability issues.
