FOCAPD19 High Performance Design:Travel Support Grant for Junior Researchers

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

This grant will provide partial travel support for 35 junior US-based researchers (assistant professors, postdoctoral associates and graduate students) to attend the 2019 Foundations of Computer-Aided Process Design (FOCAPD-19) Conference that will be held from July 14 to 18, 2019, in Copper Mountain, Colorado. FOCAPD-19 will bring together the most important international researchers in the field of process design. Process design is being profoundly impacted by the convergence of high-performance computing and advances in machine learning and optimization. In the field of process design the demand is for cost-effective, energy efficient and highly functional designs. This is coupled with an increased desire for rapid innovation to translate advances in science into engineered products. Furthermore, the demands of society are for zero-accident chemical production combined with a low tolerance for product faults, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry. The design process itself is also being driven to high performance by global competition and adoption of streamlined digital information management systems that link every increasing scope of design problems, from the initial molecular discovery to process implementation. The junior US-based researchers supported by this grant will have the opportunity to interact with academic and industrial researchers from around the world and exchange ideas on the latest advances on process design research and education. The organizers expect to attract members of under-represented groups that they may otherwise be unable to attend the Conference. The junior researchers will have an opportunity to interact with each other and with more experienced researchers in the field, which will positively influence their future professional development. 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.