The 2010 Gordon Research Conference on Polymer Physics will provide outstanding lectures and discussions in this critical field that impacts every industrial sector from electronics to transportation to medicine to textiles to energy generation and storage. Fundamental topics range from mechanical properties of soft gels to new understanding in polymer crystallization to energy conversion and transmission to simulating polymer dynamics at the nanoscale. This international conference will feature 22 invited lectures, wherein the opening 10 minutes are specifically designed for a general polymer physics audience. In addition, poster sessions and informal activities provide ample opportunity to discuss the latest advances in polymer physics.
The technical content of the meeting will include new twists on traditional polymer physics topics, recent advances in previously underrepresented topics, and emerging technologies enabled by polymer physics. Here is a partially listing of targeted topics:
- electrically-active and light-responsive polymers and polymer-based materials used in energy conversion and storage
- polymers with hierarchical structures including supramolecular assemblies, ion-containing polymers, and self-assembled block polymers
- mechanical and rheological properties of soft materials, such as hydrogels, and of heterogeneous materials, particularly microphase separated polymers and polymer nanocomposites
- crystallization of polymers in dilute solutions, polymer melts, and miscible polymer blends
Confirmed speakers: Anna Balazs (Univ. of Pittsburg), Nitash Balsara (Univ. of California, Berkeley), Mary Boyce (MIT), Martin Brinkmann (Univ. of Strasbourg, France), Catherine Brinson (Northwestern Univ.), Michael Chabinyc (Univ. of California, Santa Barbara), Kookheon Char (Seoul National Univ., Korea), Nigel Clarke (Durham Univ., UK), Russell Composto (Univ. of Pennsylvania), Costantino Creton (ESPCI, France), Juan De Pablo (Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison), Amalie Frischknecht (Sandia), Charles Han (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China), Edward Kramer (Univ. of California Santa Barbara), Kurt Kremer (Max Plank Institute for Polymer Research), Timothy Lodge (Univ. of Minnesota), Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo (Princeton), Scott Milner (Pennsylvania State Univ.), Murugappan Muthukumar (Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst), Donald Paul (Univ. of Texas Austin), Stuart Rowan (Case Western Reserve Univ.), and James Runt (Pennsylvania State Univ.).
Poster Sessions: All attendees are encouraged to participate in the late afternoon poster sessions. A poster title and abstract can be submitted when applying for the conference.
About Mount Holyoke College: This is a new location for Polymer Physics. The spacious and wooded campus includes a comfortable auditorium, good space for the poster session, a newly-constructed dormitory with air-conditioning, multiple ponds, and quiet walking trails. Nearby there are opportunities for cycling, canoeing, and hiking.
