This award, supported by the Division of Materials Research and the Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation provides partial funding for the 2013 Gordon Research Conference on the Science of Adhesion along with an associated Gordon Research Seminar. The Gordon Research Conference is being held from July 14-19, 2013 at Mount Holyoke College, Hadley, MA. graduate student-led Gordon Research Seminar on Adhesion Science will be held at the same location on July 13-14. In both conferences special efforts will be made by the chairs to increase the attendance of underrepresented groups and people with disabilities.
The field of adhesion science is quite interdisciplinary, drawing on concepts from physics, chemistry, and engineering. In recent years adhesion science has rapidly expanded into the biological sciences, providing a more quantitative undestanding for a range of important biological phenomena. As a result, there is great need for traditional adhesion scientists to collaborate with scientists trained in a variety of disciplines, which include the biological and biomedical sciences. The goal of the 2013 GRC (Gordon Research Conference) on Adhesion Science is to strengthen the interdisciplinary environment that has been fostered by scientists working in all areas related to adhesion science. This goal is reflected in the program which consists of sessions on structural adhesives, soft material physics and mechanics, bio-inspired adhesives, and biomaterials development. The invited speakers come from diverse backgrounds and are leading researchers in their areas of expertise.
To extend the broader impact on education, a GRS (Gordon Research Seminar) on adhesion science will be held one day before the GRC at the same location. The goal of the GRS is to provide a highly stimulating and non-intimidating environment for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to discuss their research in talks and poster sessions, and to build informal networks with their peers that may lead to a lifetime of collaboration and scientific achievement. The GRS is organized by a graduate student with the support of the chair and the vice chair of the GRC on Adhesion Science. All GRS participants are strongly encouraged to attend the following GRC.
The Gordon Research Conference on SCIENCE OF ADHESION was held at Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, Massachusetts, July 14-19, 2013. The Conference was well-attended with 115 participants (attendees list attached). The attendees represented the spectrum of endeavor in this field coming from academia, industry, and government laboratories, both U.S. and foreign scientists, senior researchers, young investigators, and students. Of the 115 attendees, 50 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 50 respondents, 20% were Minorities – 2% Hispanic, 16% Asian and 2% African American. Approximately 31% of the participants at the 2013 meeting were women. In designing the formal speakers program, emphasis was placed on current unpublished research and discussion of the future target areas in this field. There was a conscious effort to stimulate lively discussion about the key issues in the field today. Time for formal presentations was limited in the interest of group discussions. In order that more scientists could communicate their most recent results, poster presentation time was scheduled. Attached is a copy of the formal schedule and speaker program and the poster program. In addition to these formal interactions, "free time" was scheduled to allow informal discussions. Such discussions are fostering new collaborations and joint efforts in the field. Thank you for your support of this Conference. As you know, in the interest of promoting the presentation of unpublished and frontier-breaking research, Gordon Research Conferences does not permit publication of meeting proceedings.
