2004 Midwest Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics Meeting; Buffalo, NY; June 3-4, 2004

Errington, Jeffrey R., et al SUNY Buffalo This is a proposal for travel support for approximately fifty graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to attend the "2004 Midwest Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics Meeting" in Buffalo, NY on June 3 - 4, 2004. This meeting emphasizes presentations and participation by graduate students and postdoctoral scholars working in all areas of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. NSF-CTS has provided student travel funds for this meeting several times in the past, and this action has been important in making attendance at this meeting widely accessible to graduate students. Broader Societal Impacts: The Midwest Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics Meeting is an annual forum for engineers and scientists in the Midwestern U.S. to present and discuss their work. All aspects of theoretical, computational, and experimental thermodynamics research are included in this meeting. This meeting has a strong tradition of emphasizing presentations from younger researchers, including undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and young faculty, in a collegial atmosphere. This grant will benefit young researchers who traditionally have a harder time obtaining the finances needed to attend major conferences. The meeting will feature 30 to 35 contributed talks (20 minutes in length) and 4 invited speakers (each given 40 minutes). The invited speakers will be: o Fernando Escobedo, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University o Christopher Roberts, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware o Daniel Lacks, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Case Western University o Sharon Glotzer, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan The invited speakers have been chosen in part to continue the traditional aim of this meeting to recognize researchers at early points in their careers. As in previous years, the meeting will not include any parallel sessions, so all participants are expected to attend all presentations. This creates a collegial atmosphere and encourages student participants to listen to presentations on a broad range of topics.