Student and Postdoc Travel Support for Society of Engineering Science Conference (SES2026); West Lafayette, Indiana; 11-14 October 2026

This grant provides travel support to approximately 40 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to present their research at the 2026 Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineering Science (SES2026), which will be held at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, 11-14 October 2026. The SES Annual Meeting is a premier international forum in mechanics, bringing together researchers across engineering, physical sciences, mathematics, quantum mechanics, AI/ML, and related disciplines. Through focused symposia and poster sessions, the conference promotes the dissemination of cutting-edge research and fosters interdisciplinary dialogue within the mechanics and materials community. The primary goal of this grant is to enable outstanding graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to present their work to a broad audience of leading experts and peers, thereby enhancing the visibility and impact of their research. Participation in SES2026 will provide these early-career researchers with valuable opportunities to receive feedback, generate new ideas, and establish professional connections that support long-term career development. By facilitating strong participation from trainees across a wide range of institutions, this project advances NSF’s goal of building, retaining, and recruiting the next generation workforce in mechanics of materials and structures including area such as quantum mechanics, AI/ML etc., strengthening both the research community and the nation’s scientific enterprise. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. NSF Award ID: 2619256 | Program: 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Kejie Zhao | Institution: Purdue University, WEST LAFAYETTE, IN | Award Amount: $35,000 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2619256 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2619256.html