GRC Granular and Granular-Fluid Flow: Fundamental Challenges and Applications of Particulate Systems, July 20-25, 2014

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 2014 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 materials are ubiquitous in a range of industrial and natural systems, yet a quantitative understanding of many phenomena remains elusive and predictive capabilities remain limited. Advances in this field require the participation of multiple scientific and engineering disciplines, each of which has its own goals and techniques. As an example of the interdisciplinary nature of this subject, the proposed conference will highlight connections to the pharmaceutical industry and to the bulk materials processing industry and will focus on the basic and applied aspects of shear-induced transitions in granular media. 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 The guiding principles of the conference include the presentation of new, unpublished work followed by free, unhampered discussion among participants from disciplines that normally do not intersect.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.