Conference: Participant Support for Fifteenth International Conference on Fracture; Atlanta, Georgia; 11-16 June 2023

This award provides complimentary registration for 50 students and postdoctoral fellows studying in the US to attend the 15th International Conference on Fracture (ICF15), which will be held 11-16 June 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia, hosted jointly by the Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Arkansas. The objective is to broaden the participation from graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, participants from underrepresented communities and women, and undergraduate students that aspire to learn more about the field of fracture and fatigue. Consideration in the selection process will be given to the inclusion of members of underrepresented groups, diversity of institutions that the participants represent, and diversity of programs within engineering. The aim is to grow the pipeline of US researchers interested in fracture and fatigue, which are topics that have applications in several fields including safety of mechanical, civil, and aerospace systems, improvements in health and quality of life, and homeland security. The International Conference on Fracture is held quadrennially in different cities around the globe since ICF1 in 1965 in Sendai, Japan. It is considered the world’s premier conference in the field of fracture in engineering materials and structures. Fracture in structural materials and components is a highly interdisciplinary topic and at the heart of the field of mechanics of materials, drawing upon researchers from mechanical, aerospace, biomedical, civil, materials engineering, and from the sciences. This conference brings together researchers from across the nation and internationally to share their research findings, foster and develop new collaborative ideas, and advance the professional development of a new generation of scientists and researchers to address problems where fracture impacts society. The conference will include 21 symposia across all areas of fracture where the most recent and novel research will be presented. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.