11th International Congress on Combustion By-Products, -Origin, Control and Health Effects - Student Travel Stipends

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA

Investigators

Abstract

CBET-0837030 Dellinger This award provides funds to partially support a biennial international conference on research into the formation, mitigation, and adverse health effects of products of combustion. The conference will be held in Research Triangle Park, NC and hosted by the US-EPA. The tentative date for the conference is June 14-17, 2009. This is the eleventh conference, and approximately 120 researchers are expected to participate. Six plenary lectures are in the planning stage. The organizers expect that 60-90 papers will be submitted and that graduate students will present some of these. The NSF Combustion, Fire, and Plasma Systems program has provided support for four previous gatherings of this conference (Arizona in 2005, Sweden in 2003, North Carolina in 2005, Fand Italy in 2007). Travel expenses were provided for ten students in 2005, four students in 2003, eight students in 2005, and eight students in 2007. The website for the meeting will list the availability of NSF support for student travel (http://www.lsu.edu/piccongress/). Combustion research is a multi-disciplinary field encompassing diverse disciplines in engineering and science. Society relies on combustion for power generation, transportation, and manufacturing. While great strides have been made and continue to be made in mitigating pollutant formation from combustion, some emissions persist, and the health effects of these emissions are just beginning to be examined in detail. This conference allows health-focused and combustion-focused researchers to exchange ideas in a stimulating technical forum. Policymakers will also be in attendance to participate in the exchange of information. The intellectual merit of this activity arises from the participation of combustion and health experts from the various countries, their discourse, their communications with students, and their ultimate recommendations for future research directions. The outcomes of this meeting can serve as a useful guide for setting priorities of the NSF Combustion and Plasma Systems program. For broader impacts, graduate students involved in the meeting will be encouraged to participate further in research into toxic byproduct formation, mitigation, and lifecycle/health effects. The meeting offers a unique opportunity for health and combustion experts to interact. The informal discussions at this meeting would provide a valuable learning experience for the students who participate. The conference would also promote international, multi-disciplinary collaboration and communication. Ultimately, local air quality and public health could be improved by the outcomes of the conference.