**Note that all AmeriMech symposia scheduled during the COVID-19 pandemic will take place remotely over Zoom.

The U.S. National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (USNCTAM) invites proposals for organizing AmeriMech Symposia. AmeriMech symposia are intended to promote interactions among researchers in an area of contemporary interest in the mechanics of fluids and solids. It is expected that the symposia will address topics of a specialized nature, will be small in size (about 50 participants) with minimal cost, held in an informal setting, encourage participation of young researchers, and promote interdisciplinary ideas and discussions. This format allows for in-depth discussions and close interactions between participants. Such symposia are known to help assess the state-of-the-art and chart new directions for the future.

AmeriMech symposia should normally extend over two to four days, according to need and scope. The symposia are required to be held at a University campus so as to minimize costs. They should be organized by two to three researchers, with one of these researchers being the Chair. The organizers are responsible for planning and conducting the symposium. The symposia should be organized in such a way that they promote vibrant, informal and informative discussions. AmeriMech symposia are intended to promote interactions among researchers in an area of contemporary interest in the mechanics of fluids and solids, especially those with the potential for impact on national priorities. The symposia are held in a single session format and ample time should be left for breaks and discussions. In many cases, introductory or review lectures can be used to motivate and introduce the topic.
The invited speakers should be a mix of established and emerging researchers including some from related fields who could provide new perspectives and ideas for advancing the subject of interest. It is desirable to set aside time towards the end of the symposium for a final discussion to identify new and emerging ideas to motivate future research. It is strongly encouraged to post the presentations from the symposium on a website so that they can be disseminated broadly. Proceeding papers of the presentations are not required. It may be worthwhile for the organizers to prepare a paper within a short time (1-2 months) after the conclusion of the symposium on the recent advances and research needs identified during the symposium to be published online and perhaps in an archival journal. Papers may be collected from the invited participants and published as a special issue of a journal after normal review procedure, but this is left to the interests of the organizers.
Apply to lead an AmeriMech Symposium

AmeriMech Symposia proposals for the 2021 cycle will be accepted until March 31, 2021. For more information, or to submit a proposal to host a Symposium, please contact Yuri Bazilevs [link yuri_bazilevs@brown.edu].
Researchers interested in organizing an AmeriMech symposium are invited to submit a one-page proposal by e-mail with "AmeriMech" in the subject line to Tarek Zohdi (zohdi@berkeley.edu). The proposal should contain:

(i) title for the symposium

(ii) proposed dates (at least the month), location and number of days

(iii) anticipated number of participants

(iv) proposer’s (Chair) name, affiliation and contact information (phone number, email), and name(s) and affiliation of co-organizers

(v) a synopsis (~200 words) containing the need and timeliness of the symposia, objectives, topics of

interest and anticipated benefits; subjects for symposia that promote mechanics in emerging areas are encouraged.
General guidelines for organizing a successful symposium will be provided to the organizers. The cost of holding an AmeriMech symposium should be kept low and has to be covered by the registration fee. USNC/TAM anticipates sponsoring three to four symposia per year. Seed funding to help with the organization of the symposia will be provided based on need (up to $4K). The organizers are encouraged to also seek support from other sources.
Past AmeriMech Symposia

Machine Learning in Heterogeneous Porous Materials
Location: Virtual
Dates: October 4-6, 2021
Organizers: Pania Newell (University of Utah), George Karniadakis (Brown University), and Hari Viswanathan (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Website: https://amerimech.mech.utah.edu
Abstract: The "Workshop on Machine learning in heterogeneous porous materials" brought together international scientific communities of applied mathematics, porous media, and material sciences with experts in the areas of heterogeneous materials, machine learning (ML) and applied mathematics to identify how ML can advance materials research. Within the scope of ML and materials research, the goal of the workshop was to discuss the state-of-the-art in each community, promote crosstalk and accelerate multi-disciplinary collaborative research, and identify challenges and opportunities. As the end result, four topic areas were identified: ML in predicting materials properties, and discovery and design of novel materials, ML in porous and fractured media and time-dependent phenomena, Multi-scale modeling in heterogeneous porous materials via ML, and Discovery of materials constitutive laws and new governing equations. This workshop was part of the AmeriMech Symposium series sponsored by the U.S. National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics.

Experimental and Computational Fracture Mechanics: Validating Peridynamics and Phase Field Models for Fracture Prediction and Experimental Design

Location: Center of Computation & Technology at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Dates: February 26-28, 2020

Organizers: Patrick Diehl (Louisiana State University), Serge Prudhomme, (Polytechnique Montreal), and Pablo Seleson, (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

Website: http://wfm2020.usacm.org/

Abstract: Comparison of numerical simulations against experimental data is essential for the validation of fracture models in order to gain con?dence in their predictability and reliability. Peridynamics and phase ?eld models have recently delivered promising results for simulating complex fracture phenomena. The workshop was attended by 50 participants in total, and it featured 3 keynote lectures, 25 oral presentations, 9 poster presentations, and an industrial talk. The abstracts of the oral presentations and poster presentations are available in the website.

The workshop was also sponsored by the Technical Thrust Area on Large Scale Structural Systems and Optimal Design of the U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM), the Center for Computation & Technology at Louisiana State University, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), besides the USNC/TAM.

Modeling and Simulation of Wildfires

Organizers: Tarek Zohdi (UC-Berkeley) and Ilkay Altintas (UCSD)

Location: UC-Berkeley, Berkeley, California

Dates: October 8-9, 2019

Website: https://msw.berkeley.edu/

Abstract: Uncontrolled wildfires are a growing problem that will continue to vex countries around the globe and drain their resources. If this problem is ever to be managed effectively, harmonization of modeling, simulation, modern engineering technology and environmental science are needed. This AmeriMech symposium focused on the state of the art of modeling and simulation of fires, with the objective being to determine the speed and direction of spreading, utilizing fuel models for the types of combustible materials and to ascertain ecological effects that result (smoke, etc.) incorporating environmental factors: relative humidity, precipitation.

Format: This workshop was by invitation only and around 40 participants attended. There were no parallel sessions, no keynote and no plenary talks. Therefore, everyone had equal time to speak and participated in deep roundtable discussions.

The Intersection of Advanced Additive Manufacturing, Mechanics, and Materials

Organizers: Tarek Zohdi (UC Berkeley) and Chris Spadaccini (LLNL)

Location: UC-Berkeley, Berkeley, California

Date: June 5, 2019

Website: http://iaam.berkeley.edu/

Abstract: Within the last decade, several industrialized countries have stressed the importance of advanced manufacturing to their economies. Many of these plans have highlighted the development of robust additive manufacturing techniques, such as 3D printing, which are still rapidly evolving. The combination of rigorous material modeling coupled with the dramatic increase of computational power opens the possibility that scientific computing can play a significant role in the analysis, control, and design of many emerging additive manufacturing processes. The purpose of this workshop was to bring together a set of diverse researchers in the hope of accelerating cross-fertilization between these fields. A primary mission of the workshop was to enhance cooperation and integration between the sub-disciplines known traditionally as mechanics, materials, and manufacturing.

General Objectives: One key goal for researchers in academia and industry was to draw upon rigorous physical and mathematical theories, cutting edge experimentation, and computation to guide and simultaneously develop design rules for scaling up to industrial level mass production and precise additive manufacturing for a variety of applications. A particular emphasis of the workshop was modeling and simulation of fluid, solid, and multiphysical systems.
Non-Reciprocal and Topological Wave Phenomena in Solids and Fluids
Dates: May 28--31, 2019
Committee: Andrew Norris, Chair (1), Guoliang Huang, Local Organizer (2), Michael R. Haberman (3), Carolyn C. Seepersad (3)
(1) Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, norris@rutgers.edu, 848-445-3818
(2) Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, huangg@missouri.edu
(3) Department of Mechanical Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin, haberman@utexas.edu and ccseepersad@mail.utexas.edu
2014-2018 USNC/TAM AmeriMech Symposia
1. "Interfaces and Mixing - Non-Equilibrium Transport Across the Scales"
Chair/Submitter: Snejana Abarji; sabarji@andrew.cmu.edu
Organizing Committee: Snezhana I. Abarzhi (snezhana.abarzhi@gmail.com), William A. Goddard (wag@wag.caltech.edu), and Mark Schlossman (schloss@uic.edu)
Location: Denver, CO (venue TBD)
Dates: November 18-19, 2017
Website: http://www.ictp.it/~tmb/index.AmeriMech.2017.html
AmeriMech Rep: J. Dabiri
2. "Computational Mechanics of Particle-Functionalized Fluid and Solid Materials for Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Processes"
Organizers: Tarek I. Zohdi (UC Berkeley) and Eric Shaqfeh (Stanford)
Logistical Coordinators: Maxwell Micali and Zeyad Zaky
Location: UC Berkeley, Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center
Dates: May 30-31, 2017
Website: http://iutam-amerimech-manufacturing-symposium.berkeley.edu/
3. "Mechbio symposium: Putting together the Cell Mechanome: Finding the pieces, building the puzzle"
Chair/Submitter: Padmini Rangamani; Padmini.rangamani@eng.ucsd.edu
Location: San Diego, CA
Dates: August 4-5, 2016
Website: https://sites.google.com/a/eng.ucsd.edu/mechbiome-symposium/
AmeriMech Rep: T. Zohdi
Watch the video via Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/243926011
4. "Fluid Transport and Nonlinear Dynamics"
Chair/Submitter: George Haller; georgehaller@ethz.ch
Location: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA
Quisset Campus, Clark Building, Room 509
Dates: May 16-20, 2016
Website: http://georgehaller.com/symposia/
AmeriMech Rep: J. Dabiri
5. "Mechanical Behavior of 2D Materials - Graphene and Beyond"
Chair/Submitter: Rui Huang; ruihuang@mail.utexas.edu
Location: Austin, TX
Dates: April 4-6, 2016
Website: https://www.ae.utexas.edu/~ruihuang/AM2016/
AmeriMech Rep: T. Zohdi
Watch the video via Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/243926067
6. "Nonlocal Models in Mathematics, Computation, Science, and Engineering"
Chair/Submitter: Pablo Seleson; selesonpd@ornl.gov
Location: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
Dates: October 26-28, 2015
Website: http://nlmcse.usacm.org/
AmeriMech Rep: T. Zohdi
7. "Mechanics in Biology II"
Chair/Submitter: Sunghwan Jung; sunnyjsh@vt.edu
Location: Blacksburg, Virginia
Dates: May 22-23, 2014
Watch the video via Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/243925962