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Attending conferences is one of the essential professional activities for scientific researchers. Conferences take various forms, such as community-wide meetings (e.g., MRS meetings, ASME congress, APS meetings), and topic-focused meetings/workshops (e.g., Plasticity07, Gordon Research Conferences(GRC)).  While people have different preferences on the types of conference to attend (e.g., see a recent iMech poll initiated by Biswajit Banerjee ), here are some common positive driving forces to motivate one to attend a conference:

The 8th ISOPE Pacific/Asia Offshore Mechanics Symposium (ISOPE PACOMS-2008) is being organized by the ISOPE PACOMS-2008 Symposium Organizing Committee (SOC), and Local Organizing Committee (LOC). It will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, hosted by King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand.

Important dates:

Abstract submission--------> February 15, 2008

Abstract acceptance---------> March 1, 2008

Manuscript for review--------> June 1, 2008

For the details of this symposium, please visit the following websites.

Nonlinear buckling of thin,
high modulus plates on compliant

The Robert M. and Mary Haythornthwaite Foundation is offering $1,000 travel grants for U.S. graduate students currently enrolled at any U.S. universities or colleges presenting a paper in any field of applied mechanics at the 2007 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exhibition (IMECE) in Seattle, Washington, November 11 – 15, 2007.

We professors usually start our jobs unprepared. In our days as students, we are considered talented if we can solve problems posed by our professors. We might be even considered brilliant if we can solve them quickly and make a few extensions. After solving a few such problems, we write a thesis. We are then entrusted with a job as a professor. We soon realize that the skill of solving problems posed by others only plays a minor role in our jobs.