Welcome Message From The Executive Chair, ICF15
On behalf of the Organizing Committee of ICF15, I am very pleased to invite the members of our international fraternity of fracture researchers to explore this website and to also extend a personal invitation to attend the conference in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from June 11 to 16, 2023. The local and International Scientific Committee are working to make this conference a memorable experience for all participants and their guests.
The series of quadrennial ICF conferences, of which Atlanta is number 15, have a very rich history going back to ICF1 in Sendai, Japan in 1965. The conference theme is multidisciplinary and is focused on all aspects of research on the topic of fracture, fatigue, deformation, effects of extreme environments, and structural integrity. Fracture phenomena across multiple length scales ranging from fracture at component level to atomistic scale is within the scope of the conference. In the past, the conference has consistently attracted about 1000 participants from 50+ countries.
The conference will begin on Sunday, June 11, 2023 afternoon with a welcome reception and will end on Friday, June 16. The technical program will include Plenary Lectures by internationally acclaimed researchers, several symposia on cutting-edge topics in fracture research and structural integrity assessments, general technical sessions, and poster sessions for students to present their work. We welcome suggestions for suitable topics for symposia from our international community. The format and instructions for proposing symposium can be downloaded from the website. Alternatively, you may contact me or the Program Committee Chair (Prof. Chris Muhlstein, christopher.muhlstein@mse.gatech.edu) with your suggestions for organizing symposia. Please also encourage your colleagues to become participants and come to Atlanta to rub shoulders with who’s who in the fracture and structural integrity community world-wide.
On a personal note, I first attended ICF4 in Waterloo, Canada in the summer of 1977 as a very young researcher in the field and saw the advantages of being at such a premier event. I have attended every one of the 11 conferences since then and have made lasting friendships and found research collaborators all over the world. There will be opportunities for networking with the best in the field.
The conference venue, the Omni in downtown, Atlanta, is situated amidst several nearby attractions that include the World Congress Center, Mercedes Stadium, College Football Hall of Fame, Fox Theater, Centennial Olympic Park, Woodruff Arts Center, the Georgia Aquarium, the campus of Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Stone Mountain. The venue is connected to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport by Metro Rail system, MARTA. The area also offers several good restaurants offering local and international cuisines.
ICF will be using the occasion to recognize the accomplishments of its members through several gold and silver medals named after the pioneers in fracture research and to induct a new class of ICF Fellows. In addition, we are anticipating awards for best presentation(s), best student poster(s), best presentation by young scientist(s).
Ashok Saxena, ICF15 Executive Chair
Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Dean Emeritus, College of Engineering
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR