This proposal requests funding to support organize a symposium on "Mechanical Behavior of Biological and Bio-Inspired Materials" at the Materials Research Society Fall 2004 meeting. The goal of this symposium is to start a dialogue and potential collaborations between modelers and experimentalists of mechanical behavior in bioinspired and biological materials. Intellectual merit: Biological, and bio-inspired materials have complex architectures that require advanced experimental techniques for measurement of mechanical properties and also due to their structural hierarchy, often need new multiscale modeling methods. This symposium will enhance interactions and collaborations between modelers and experimentalists working on mechanical behavior in bioinspired and biological materials. Broader Impact: This is the first time a symposium is organized at MRS that is focused on mechanical response in biological and bioinspired materials. This symposium will bring together two distinct and important communities in materials science that often remain separated. The impact of these interactions, have far reaching consequences in many fields, especially the biomedical and also structural composites fields.
