The rapid advances in nanotechnology, nanomaterials
and nanomechanics offer huge potentials in private
industry, homeland security, and national defense.
An emphasis on nanoscale design of materials will
make our manufacturing technologies and infrastructure
more sustainable in terms of reduced energy usage
and environmental pollution.
In this short course, we first present the essential
tools used by mechanics and materials researchers
at the nanoscale. These include selected topics in
quantum mechanics, molecular dynamics, statistical
physics, FEM and multiple-scale methods based on coupling
the atomistic and continuum models. We discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of each modeling technique
via research examples. There are certain cases where
atomistic and continuum models yield nearly identical
results. In some cases, however, atomistic tools are
not sufficient for many of the interesting and fundamental
problems that arise in multiscale mechanics and materials.
Problems spanning length scales have lead to a thrust
in the development of multiple-scale methods. The
strengths and limitations of the small number of currently
available multiple-scale techniques are explored.
Emphasis is given to the latest perspective approaches,
such as the bridging scale method, multiscale boundary
conditions, and multiscale fluidics. Finally, we present
applications of all of the above methods to design
of materials. Laboratory tours and demonstrations
are designed to complement lecture topics.
Course Credit and Pre-requisites
The total number of contact hours for the five day
program is 27, and 2.7 CEUs. There are certain pre-requisites
for each topic. In order to maximize the learning
experience, we will provide complete course materials
to students prior to the class. Pre-requisite material
will be reviewed briefly at the beginning of each
course.
Fees
The registration fee for the short course is: $2,000
An additional $200 fee will be added to late
registrations received after June 1, 2004. Register
by April 1, 2004 and receive a 20% discount.
The fee includes continental breakfast, coffee breaks,
and lunch each day plus a reception dinner on Monday
and a banquet
dinner on Thursday as well as all presentation
materials, lecture notes and appropriate review papers.
Location
The course will be held at Northwestern University.
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