17th US-Japan Conference on Composite Materials; Sapporo, Japan; August 1-2, 2016; and visit to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA); Tokyo, Japan; July 29, 2016

该奖项为一批美国研究人员提供旅费支持，用于参加2016年8月1日至2日在日本札幌举行的第17届美日复合材料会议，并于2016年7月29日参观日本宇宙航空研究开发机构(JAXA)在日本东京的结构和先进复合材料研究单位。复合材料在能源、汽车、航空航天、国防等众多行业中发挥着越来越重要的作用。会议涵盖的主题代表了与复合材料和复合材料结构的力学有关的跨学科主题，包括先进复合材料的分析、设计、制造和应用等主题。该旅游奖项将面向来自美国高等教育机构的早期职业教师。将特别强调从代表性不足的群体、少数群体服务机构和NSF EPSCoR州聘请教师。这笔旅行资金将促进美日两国研究人员在复合材料领域的智力交流。通过这一奖项提供的资金将增加来自学术界的初级教职员工的数量，他们将能够参加会议，因为他们得到了旅行的财政支持。此外，把重点放在代表性不足的教师上，并纳入少数族裔服务机构的教师，这可能会扩大这一领域成功的早期职业教师的人口统计数字。计划中的小组活动还将促进指导和专业发展，并有助于在这一多样化的早期职业教师群体中建立专业网络。

This award provides financial support for travel expenses for a group of US researchers to attend the 17th US-Japan Conference on Composite Materials in Sapporo, Japan on August 1-2, 2016 and to visit the Structures and Advanced Composite Research unit of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in Tokyo, Japan on July 29, 2016. Composite materials play an increasingly critical role in a large number of industries, such as the energy, automotive, aerospace and defense industries. Themes covered by the conference represent an interdisciplinary spectrum of topics related to mechanics of composite materials and composite structures and includes topics such as analysis, design, manufacturing, and applications of advanced composites. The travel award will target early career faculty from US institutions of higher education. A special emphasis will be placed on engagement of faculty from underrepresented groups, minority-serving institutions and NSF EPSCoR states. The travel funding will promote intellectual exchange between US and Japan researchers in the area of composite materials. Funding through this award will increase the number of junior faculty members from academia who will be able to attend the conference due to the financial support for travel. In addition, the selection focus on underrepresented faculty and the inclusion of faculty from minority-serving institutions would potentially broaden the demographics of successful early-career faculty in this field. Planned group activities will also facilitate mentorship, professional development and help to build a professional network among this diverse group of early-career faculty.