Report from POLYCHAR 18 World Forum on Advanced Materials and 18th Short Course on Polymer Characterization
The 18th Forum took place from April 7 – 9, 2010, at the University of Siegen. The tutorial Course on Polymer Characterization was held at the same location on April 6. The events were organized by Werner Mormann of the University of Siegen and his team.
The Forum stressed the following areas: Predictive Methods; Nanomaterials and Smart Materials; Electrical & Dielectric Properties; Surfaces, Interfaces & Tribology; Mechanical Properties and Performance; Rheology and Processing; Structure-Property Relationships; Materials Synthesis; Biomaterials, Materials for Energy & Recycling.
As in the past years, POLYCHAR had under one roof theorists, those doing computer simulations or modeling, processing & characterization people & more. Discussions during the presentations, during the breaks, in the evenings & even during the post-conference excursion were fruitful – for newcomers and distinguished materials scientists and engineers alike.
There were 250 participants from five continents and over 40 countries who have presented some 250 contributions. There were some 120 oral presentations and a comparable number of posters. Oral contributions were presented in three parallel sessions; posters were presented in a dedicated session. There were only five last minute cancellations. Participants from industry provided an excellent basis to exchange views between academia and industry.
Since POLYCHAR 1 one objective is to attract students and other young scientists – to give them an opportunity to meet with their peers and with well-known scientists to exchange experiences, make contacts and present their results to the scientific community. Financial support (fee waivers plus contributions to travel and local costs) was provided to more than 20 students in combination with grants from Deutsche Akademische Austausch Dienst (DAAD) and IUPAC Polymer Division.
