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Basic Principles of Theory, Experiment and Application

 

 

Dear Participants:

 

Welcome to the Diffusion Fundamentals IV International Conference!

 

We hope that you will enjoy this multidisciplinary scientific conference, held for the first time outside Europe, after exciting meetings in Leipzig, Germany (2005), L’Aquila, Italy (2007) and Athens, Greece (2009). It all started with the memorable celebration in Leipzig organized by Jörg Kärger, Farida Grinberg and Paul Heitjans for the 150th anniversary of Adolf Fick’s Über Diffusion (1855) and the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s Über die von der molekularkinetischen Theorie der Wärme geforderten Bewegung von in ruhenden Flüssigkeiten suspendierten Teilchen (1905).

 

The program once more testifies of the breadth and importance of diffusion as a physical phenomenon, with ramifications to fields as seemingly distant as medicine and the geosciences, but with common roots in physics, and strong connections to chemical engineering and materials science. For a phenomenon that has been investigated for so long, and is associated to the names of legendary scientists, it is remarkable how much fundamental progress has still been made over these past few years. This is in part driven by applications, in part thanks to the ability to synthesize nanoporous materials of well-controlled structure, and, crucially, thanks to rapid advances in experimental characterization and computational methods that are responsible for fundamental insights and applications that were unthinkable only a few years ago. Diffusion is once again “hot”, and moving quickly in all directions!

 

Oral presentations, by leading scientists in the field, will highlight recent developments, linked by their underlying physics, albeit not in a trivial manner and with distinctive flavors. They are grouped under seven themes:

 

-          Diffusion in the Brain (Sunday afternoon)

-          Diffusion in Physiology and Medicine (Monday morning)

-          Transport Phenomena in Nano-Biotechnology (Monday morning)

-          Membrane Diffusion Fundamentals - Experiments and Theory (Monday afternoon)

-          Diffusion in Nanomaterials - Synthesis, Characterization and Applications (Monday afternoon and Wednesday morning)

-          Theoretical Fundamentals of Confinement Effects on Diffusion (Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning)

-          Transport in the Geosciences (Tuesday morning)

 

No less important are the poster sessions, which can be enjoyed over lunch or coffee, and will remain on view from Monday until Wednesday. Excellent abstracts promise to show us the newest directions in the field.

 

During your time here, we also hope that you will enjoy the beautiful campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1824 and the oldest engineering school in the English-speaking world, as well as some of its nearby world-class natural and cultural attractions. While our scientific program will keep you engaged, we wanted to ensure that you have an opportunity to relax and enjoy some of the sights, during the excursion to the Berkshires on Tuesday afternoon, and the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer on Monday evening.

 

Last but not least, we are very grateful to our distinguished speakers and chairmen to accept our invitation, and our poster presenters for showing their newest research.

 

A conference like this would not be possible without generous support – in funds, time and effort. Our heartfelt thanks go to the US National Science Foundation (NSF-CBET) and the Rensselaer Vollmer Fries Distinguished Lectures for exceptional financial support. Air Products, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, Praxair, Quantachrome Instruments, Schlumberger, and Süd-Chemie are most gratefully acknowledged for their sponsorship, even during economically challenging times. Without them, this event would be impossible.

 

Rensselaer’s Provost, Dr. Robert Palazzo, and his office have been especially supportive and effective in organizational aspects, engaging the university’s Division of Strategic Communications and External Relations – we are very grateful to Trish Galvin, Cheryl McGlothlyn, and Michael Mullaney for devoting considerable time and effort. It has been a great pleasure working with them. We thank the Office of the Rensselaer Vice President for Research (Wolf von Maltzahn, Jack Huang) for guidance and support. All of you have been in contact with Elaine Belokopitsky, who has been of great help in all matters related to financial administration. Our gratitude also goes to Sharon Sorell and Phylis Federici. A special word of thanks goes to Rose Primett, an administrator in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, who made countless phone calls and arrangements for catering, accommodation, and events.

 

Overall, we trust that the multidisciplinary character of the meeting, its scientific and social events, will stimulate novel ideas and random walks to beautiful and unexpected collaborations.

 

We wish you an exciting conference!

 

Marc-Olivier Coppens, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Alex Neimark, Rutgers University

Douglas Ruthven, University of Maine

Matthias Thommes, Quantachrome Instruments




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