2022 Gordon Research Conference on Multifunctional Materials & Structures: Imparting Intelligence in and through Self-Learning Materials & Structures; Ventura, CA; 23-28 Jan 2022

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This award will provide financial support to the 2022 Gordon Research Conference on Multifunctional Materials and Structures: Imparting Intelligence in and Through Self-Learning Materials and Structures to be held in Ventura, California, 23-28 January 2022. This conference seeks to address fundamental scientific issues associated with hierarchical multifunctional material systems from the molecular scale to the structural scale, with principal considerations to intelligence and self-learning. The potential societal benefits and impact of multifunctionality are materials sustainability and energy resource management through material sustainability, recycling, and upcycling; safer systems through adaptive and self-aware capabilities, and improved energy efficiency through mass and/or volume reductions, energy recapture, and ambient harvesting. The conference will seek a broad balance in the speakers, discussion leaders, and attendees including young and established scientists and engineers, national and international representation from academic, industry, and government institutions/groups, and gender and racial diversity. Funding through this award would increase the number of graduate students and postdoc participants to prepare the next generation of scientific leaders in this field.In the ongoing series of biennial conferences on multifunctional materials and structures, the focus of this conference is on intelligence and self-learning. Researchers will address key scientific issues associated with envisioning, designing, and creating synthetic multifunctional materials and structures with intelligence and self-learning. They will identify gaps and present potential solutions on the integration of these novel functionalities into engineering structures, e.g., how to optimize the disparate roles of interfaces and the design and fabrication approaches. The conference is being organized by leading researchers in this emerging field with deep ties to the worldwide community of scientists and engineers engaged in multifunctional research. The conference outcomes are expected to include novel concepts and mechanisms for achieving intelligence and self-learning, as well as new collaborations and ways of collaborating across disciplines.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.