Student Support for the 2025 American Society for Composites Annual Technical Conference; Dayton, Ohio; 6-8 October 2025

About This Grant

This conference award is to provide travel support for participating students to attend the 2025 American Society for Composites (ASC) 40th Annual Technical Conference, to be held in Dayton, Ohio, 6-8 October 2025. The ASC conference, established in 1986, is the premier venue for disseminating fundamental research and technological advancements in composites materials and structures in the United States. The funds will be used to provide travel awards for approximately 30 students in STEM to attend the conference. The funds will also be used to support the development of professional development and community-building activities, including workshops, training sessions, and mentoring opportunities for these students during the conference. This award will offer students from US institutions of higher education unique opportunities to: i) engage with subject-matter experts from academia, industry, and government research organizations; ii) build a network of early-career researchers to foster future nationwide collaborations; and iii) deepen their scientific knowledge in the mechanics and manufacturing of composite materials by incorporating new research perspectives. By supporting student participation in the ASC 2025 conference, this project will help expand the involvement of emerging researchers in the composite materials field, promote fresh perspectives and novel approaches to tackle the industry’s future challenges, and contribute to talent retention and training of the next generation of researchers in advanced composites. This project is jointly supported by the Mechanics of Materials and Structures (MoMS) program, the Advanced Manufacturing (AM) program and the DMR Polymers program. 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.