2011 NSF-DFG Research Conference: Bioinspired Design and Engineering of Novel Functional Materials; to be held in New York City; March 2011

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ID: DMR-1063924 PI: Deming, Timothy ORG: University of California, Los AngelesTitle: 2011 NSF-DFG Research Conference: Bioinspired Design and Engineering of Novel Functional MaterialsINTELLECTUAL MERIT: This award supports the sixth DFG-NSF Research Conference to be held in New York City in March 2011. The objective of the conference is to stimulate US-German international research collaborations in the area of bioinspired design and engineering of novel functional materials. This will be the sixth in a series of DFG-NSF Research Conferences, a series conceived and promoted by the immediate past-Director of NSF and his counterpart at the DFG. The conference will be held at the German House on United Nations Plaza, which houses the offices of the German Government in New York City. The structures found in nature are admired for the elegant way that material is matched to function. Recent advances have begun to reveal the strategies used by living systems to create the materials from which these structures are built. It is now realistic to consider new approaches to design and engineering of functional materials that are inspired by the lessons learned from biological structures and the means by which they are created. The emphasis will be on the formation of functional synthetic materials using biological, biomimetic, and bioinspired templates, approaches, or pathways. The longer-range goal is to create robust routes for the synthesis of materials with novel combinations of properties or possessing functionalities that are unachievable by conventional means. This work calls for an interdisciplinary approach involving close collaboration among scientists from a broad range of disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, and materials science and engineering. In addition, the use of state-of-the art genetic and computational methods and processing and characterization approaches is essential to transferring the understanding of fundamental principles into the successful creation of novel functional materials. BROADER IMPACTS: The longer-term societal outcomes expected from the conference include development of new functional materials that can be achieved by mimicry of biological systems and processes. A broader impact specific to this conference is the opportunity to foster US-German scientific collaborations. The program has been specifically designed to promote informal discussions among the participants as they seek to identify potential collaborative partners. The program is designed to maximize opportunities for informal discussion of possible collaborations, and the conference is organized without parallel sessions so that all participants have an opportunity to be exposed the full range of activity represented in the presentations.SUPPORT: This conference is supported jointly by the MPS/DMR Biomaterials Program, the MPS/DMR Office of Special Programs, the ENG/CBET Biomedical Engineering Program, and the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering(OISE).