2012 Granular and Granular-Fluid Flow GRC to be held July 22 - 27, 2012 at Davidson College in Davidson, NC

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

NSF funds will be used to support the registration and travel costs for junior and early career scientists and engineers at the 2012 Gordon Research Conference on Granular and Granular-Fluid Flows. We will also use these funds to support participation by members of underrepresented groups. Such support will fill a crucial, national need to continue to train the future work force in the science of particle technology. Granular flows are prevalent in a range of natural and industrial systems, and research in the field is conducted within multiple scientific and engineering, each of which has its own goals and techniques. This year's conference will have sessions on Geophysics, Wet Granular Materials, Charged Granular Materials, Granular Gases, Continuum Models of Granular Flow, Vibration & Acoustics, Sheared Granular Materials, and Friction & Drag. Speakers were selected to highlight connections to geophysics and geotechnical granular materials by inviting speakers with interests spanning from oil recovery to environmental dynamics to civil engineering to earthquakes. In selecting invited speakers, we have taken care to include members of under-represented groups. The GRC provides a unique forum for the exchange of fresh scientific ideas between disciplines, as well as between junior and senior researchers. The guiding principles of the conference include the presentation of new, unpublished work followed by free, unhampered discussion among participants from disciplines that normally do not intersect. The structure GRC accomplishes this by providing formal discussion periods after every talk (guided by a discussion leader), time for small-group discussions, daily poster sessions, and shared meals with on-site housing. Each discussion leader will prepare a short presentation to provide context and provoke good discussions. This format provides an environment in which new collaborations can be forged to help tackle longstanding problems.