Applied Mechanics Division: Soft Materials

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

ASMEIMECE2016WrapUpand2017MeetingDearColleagues,Thank you to everyone who came out to Phoenix for the Mechanics of Soft MaterialsSymposiumattheASMEIMECE2016.Wehad35abstractspresentedin9topicsmanywithmultiple sessions, making us one of the largest symposia with the Applied MechanicsDivisionandacrosstheASME.EventhoughthenextmeetinginTampa,Floridawillbeheldfrom November 3-9th, the deadline for abstracts to have a paper included in theproceedingsisMarch6th,orJuly17thforapresentationonly.Inotherwords,ifyouplanon publishing in the conference proceedings, you must submit an abstract by March 6th;otherwise,ifyouplanongivingapresentationonly,youhaveuntilJuly17th.Thesedeadlineswill not be extended. Below is a list of the areas thatwewill be focusing on for the2017meetingaswellasothermeetingandcommitteeinformation.Abstractscanbesubmittedhere. Important:pleaseincludewhichsessiontopicyouintendforyourabstractasyourlastsentence.Forexample,yourlastsentencemightread,“Thisabstractisintendedforthe3D-PrintedSoftMaterialssession.”Lastly,pleaseremembertousethesameemailaddressduringabstractsubmissionandconferenceregistration.LookingforwardtoseeingyouinTampa!~KevinLong

NEWS

IMECE2017The12-23MechanicsofSoftMaterialstopicsforthe2017IMECEmeetingareasfollows:Thistopiccoversthecharacterization,prediction,modeling,andapplicationofmechanicsinsoft materials. This topic seeks abstracts for individual sessions in: • Active Materials •Mechano-Chemistry•Mechano-Biology•Gels•MechanicalCharacterization•Degradationand Failure • Adhesion • Computational Methods • Instabilities (specific instructions arebelow)•3DPrinting(specificinstructionsarebelow).

The symposium brings researchers from a variety of backgrounds together in order toexchangeanddiscuss ideasrelatedto theoryandexperimentationof themechanicsofsoftmaterials.Whensubmittingyourabstractpleaseincludeasentenceindicatingwhichsessionyouwouldliketotakepartin.Abstracts focusing on Instabilities of Soft Materials should be submitted to 12-11:InstabilitiesinSoftMatterSolidsandStructures(co-sponsoredwiththeInstabilitiesTC).Abstracts focusing on 3D Printing of Soft Materials will be routed within 12-23 to thesessions on the “Congress Wide Symposium on Additive Manufacturing: 3D Printed SoftMaterials”

Applied Mechanics Division: Soft Materials

Pleaseconsidersendinginanabstracttooneofouroutstandingtopicsthisyear.OpportunitiesforStudentTravelStudentscanself-nominateandarerequiredtosendabriefone-pageCV,arecommendationletterfromthestudentsadvisor,theabstractofapaperacceptedforpresentationatIMECEinTrack12or a symposiumsponsoredby theAMD, and adraft presentation. Pleasenotethat, at the time of the award presentation, the applicant must be enrolled full-time in adegree program at a US institution. A faculty member may not endorse more than onestudent.ThenominationswillbereviewedbytheAMD-EC.Between10and15studentswillbeselectedfortravelgrantsof$1000each!Thepoolofstudentsreceivingtravelawardswillalsobecomeeligibletoparticipate inthebestpapercontest.Thetopthreewillbeselectedfor awardsof $500, $300and$200.Thedeadline is typicallynear theendofApril, pleasekeepaneyeopenforfurtherinformationasitbecomesavailable.

LookingforanAward?You must be nominated to win an award. Many times this consists of several letters ofrecommendation,anominationform,andacurrentCV.Aspartofthisnewsletter,wewilllistopensolicitationsforupcomingawardstobepresentedatASMEIMECE.Oneofthegoalsofthis newsletter is to have our Mechanics of Soft Materials colleagues be more active inapplyingforandreceivingawards.SocietyLevelAwards:TimoshenkoMedal,DruckerMedal,andKoiterMedalDivisionLevelAwards: TedBelytschkoAppliedMechanicsDivisionAward, ThomasHughesYoungInvestigatorAward,ThomasCaugheyDynamicsAwardHaveAnyOpenPositions?Are you looking for a PhD student or a postdoc? Does your departments have any openfaculty positions? If so, please contact Shengqiang Cai (Editor) so wemay advertise youropenpositionviathenewsletter.

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

Meetthe2017TechnicalCommitteeLeadership

KevinLong,Chair

SandiaNational Laboratories

ShawnChester,ViceChair

NewJerseyInstituteofTechnology

Shengqiang Cai,Secretary

UniversityofCalifornia,SanDiego

SungHoon KangEditor

JohnsHopkinsUniversity

Applied Mechanics Division: Soft Materials

HAVE SOME NEWS OR ISSUES?

If you have some issues, concerns or news that youwould like to share, however cannotmake thenext technical committeemeeting at IMECE, please send an email to SungHoonKang (Editor, shkang@jhu.edu) and your comments will be distributed at the meeting inNovember. We are especially interested in expanding collaborations with other TCs andincreasing the visibility and importance of this conference with regards to soft materialsmechanics.