Travel Funding Request for Targetted Attendees at ARO-WES Centrifuge Workshop

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

The US Army Research Office has agreed to fund "Advanced Concepts Workshop - Centrifuge Modelling Research for Civilian and Defense Applications: Taking Stock and Recommendations for Future Research" in January 2001. The workshop will be held at the US Army Corps of Engineers Geotechnical Laboratory of ERDC in the Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, MS. Deborah Goodings at the University of Maryland, and Richard Ledbetter of the Geotechnical Laboratory of ERDC are the two primary organizers. The purpose of the workshop is to take stock of what has been accomplished to date using centrifuge modelling, and then to assess new directions for research considering the needs of both DoD and non-DoD research users. Centrifuge researchers as well as research sponsors and users, both present and potential, will be invited to attend. This proposal to NSF is to request $15,000 in supplemental funding to subsidize travel for a group of academics who would not otherwise be likely to attend the workshop. There are two components to the target group: first, junior faculty who work in related areas and who may be educated to the benefits of centrifuge modelling results in their research programs; and second, PhD students who presently are engaged in centrifuge model research, who will benefit from exposure to the Army facility, to the centrifuge modelling community, and to potential research sponsors. Special attention will be given to including underrepresented minorities and females in both groups.