Conference: An AmeriMech Symposium on Fracture of Soft Materials; Austin, Texas; 12-16 May 2024

This grant provides participant support for 25 students to attend AmeriMech Symposium on Fracture of Soft Materials. The symposium will be held at the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, University of Texas at Austin; 12-16 May 2024. Soft materials, such as elastomers and hydrogels, are key components in a wide range of applications, including stretchable electronics, soft robotics, tissue engineering, and biomedical devices. This symposium will broaden the participation of young researchers in the field as well as researchers from groups that are underrepresented in the sciences and engineering. The other important aspect is to promote cross-disciplinary interactions between mechanics and chemistry, spanning a broad scope of research subjects. This symposium will help assess the state-of-the-art and chart new directions for the future. The AmeriMech Symposium aims to bring together leading active researchers in the field, from around the world and across disciplinary boundaries, to foster close interactions and exchanges of forward-looking research ideas. 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.