The creation of the the International Conference for Mesoscopic Methods in Engineering and Science (ICMMES) series is a direct response to the growing interest in multi-scale and multi-physics phenomena observed in nano- or micro-systems and biological systems, and the increasing importance of computational science to research in all disciplines, especially to the aforementioned areas. The focus of the ICMMES conference series is mesoscopic/ kinetic methods (e.g., lattice Boltzmann equation, lattice gas cellular automata, discrete velocity models, gas-kinetic schemes, dissipative particle dynamics, smoothed particle hydrodynamics, and various hybrid methods) for computational mechanics in its broadest sense. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to, mesoscopic/kinetic methods applied to: computational fluid dynamics, rheology of complex fluids and soft matter, multi-scale/multi-physics phenomena in macro-, nano- or micro-systems, thermo-chemically nonequilibrium systems, chemical reactive flows, new algorithms, and special computer hardware.
The funding from NSF will be used in support of students, post-doctoral researchers, and junior faculty from US institutions actively participate in ICMMES. Special consideration is given to under-represented minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and those in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).
The objectives of the ICMMES Conferences are as follows: (1) To bring together researchers from academia, government labs., and industry to exchange and disseminate up-to-date information, and explore new opportunities in the field; (2) To expose young and new researchers to the state-of-the-art in the field by means of short courses and interactions with renowned experts in the field; and (3) To actively encourage underrepresented minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and students in HBCUs to explore frontier of research by attending the ICMMES Conferences. Although the United States played a key role in the early development of mesoscopic methods, its strength has been weakening throughout the past decade due to lack of funding, while European and Asian countries have significantly increased their funding level in the field. The relative weakness of the US is indicated by the fact that a small and decreasing percentage of papers published in peer reviewed journals are by US authors. Given the scientific importance of mesoscopic methods, it is urgent and imperative for the US to increase funding support for research in the field. The objective of this proposal is to seek NSF support to increase US participation in ICMMES Conferences and to strengthen the US position in this fast-growing research field.
The main intellectual merit of this proposal is that it seeks to expose new or young US scientists to research frontiers in an important and rapidly growing field through active participation in ICMMES Conferences, which constitute an ideal environment for encouraging dialog and inquiry.
Broader impact of this proposal includes improving networking between US and international researchers; disseminating up-to-date information to the scientific community at large through conferences, short courses, proceedings, and internet ; helping create a more inclusive and diverse community for young scientists; fostering a synergy among researchers from different disciplines and institutions; and strengthening the US position in a fast-growing field of research. We note that NSF support is particularly crucial to young scientists in the early stage of their careers, most of whom cannot afford to attend international conferences without external funding support.
The purpose of this proposal is to support graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and junior faculty members in the United States to actively participate in the International Conference for Mesoscopic Methods in Engineering and Science (ICMMES). Special considerations are also given to under-represented minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and those in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The ICMMES was created as a direct response to the increasing interest in multi-scale/physics phenomena observed in nano/micro-systems and biological systems, at a time when computational science has become increasingly important to research in all disciplines. The objectives of the ICMMES Conferences are: (1) To bring together researchers and practitioners from academia, research institutions and industry to exchange experiences, disseminate up-to-date information, and explore new opportunities in the field; (2) To expose young or new researchers to the state of the art in the field, by means of, in addition to the Conferences, short courses and the internet media; and (3) To actively encourage underrepresented minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and students in Historically Black Colleges and Universities to participate in frontier research by attending the ICMMES Conferences. The ICMMES is a 5-day conference devoted to mesoscopic methods and their applications in engineering and science. ICMMES is unique not only in its scientific focuses, but also in its emphasis in education. The first day of the conference is dedicated to short courses for graduate students and those new to the field. The short courses, delivered by renowned experts in the field, maintain a balance between theory and applications, and analysis and computation, and they are also intended to bring students up-to-date in frontier research. The Seventh ICMMES (ICMMES-2010) was held in Edmonton, Canada, July 12--16, 2010. It gathered about 100 participants from all over the world. The short courses on Monday, July 12, 2010, included four lectures. The Conference had 15 sessions with 51 oral presentations, and one poster session. The US attendees contributed 12 oral contributions and 10 were supported by the NSF Grant. The Conference presented 11 invited speakers. A wide range of topics has been covered, including: high performance computing (HPC) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), numerical methods and analysis of mesoscopic methods related to CFD, turbulence simulations, the lattice Boltzmann model for magnetohydrodynamics, flows through porous media, biofluids, complex fluids, micro-flows, thermal and convective flows, boundary conditions in LBE, and engineering applications of mesoscopic methods (e.g., fuel cells, secondary oil recovery in porous media, etc.). The conference agenda and program are available in the following links on the ICMMES-2010 website www.icmmes.org/icmmes2010/. With NSF's support, we have succeeded in achieving the goal of the NSF Proposal: to enhance the US participation in the ICMMES. The ICMMES-2010 had 15 attendees from the US and 10 of them were supported by the NSF Grant. The support from NSF was essential to the US participation in ICMMES. Without it, many US participants (7 out of 15) would not be able to attend ICMMES-2010. ICMMES-2010 was a success in several aspects. First of all, the Conference offers a unique opportunity to disseminate most up-to-date information. ICMMES-2010 had over 50 oral presentations and several poster presentations, most of which had new, unpublished materials. Second, the Conference created a unique atmosphere for graduate students and scientists who are new to the field to interact with renowned experts in the field. And third, the Conference stimulates inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary interaction and collaboration by covering a broad range of topics. ICMMES organizers pay special attention to under-represented groups (e.g., women, under-represented minority groups, and persons with disabilities). We contrive and strive to make the ICMMES community as diverse as possible. Among the nine NSF supported attendees, six are graduate students, one is post-doctoral researcher, and two are junior faculty members; one of them is female, one Hispanic, and three African American. ICMMES-2010 has received 13 papers so far. The ICMMES-2010 proceedings will be published as a special issue of Computers & Mathematics with Applications (published by Elsevier). All the papers submitted to the ICMMES-2010 proceedings will be subject to the rigorous review process stipulated by the Editorial Offices of the journal and established by ICMMES Scientific Committee. The information pertinent to ICMMES-2010, including the agenda and the program of all presentations, can be found in the following links on the ICMMES-2010 website www.icmmes.org/icmmes2010/. Contributions of ICMMES to resources for research and education are made through training and educating graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and junior faculty members. ICMMES creates an excellent opportunity for scientific information exchange. The ICMMES proceedings have become a premium source of technical information in the field. ICMMES attracts engineers and scientists from all over the world. The participants of ICMMES-2010 came from 12 countries and areas in North America, Asia, and Europe. The ICMMES conferences thus naturally fosters an atmosphere for culture intercourse and understanding.
