CONFERENCE: The 2nd micro Flow and Interfacial Phenomena (μFIP)

This project supports partial travel for 19 U.S. students and early career engineers/faculty to the 2nd Micro Flow and Interfacial Phenomena (μFIP) Conference. The conference, one of the premier annual events for researchers in the fields of transport phenomena, will be held in Irvine, CA, from June 20 to 23, 2022. The μFIP Conference provides a platform for researchers to exchange information and identify research needs in emerging areas of phase change, micro flows and interfacial phenomena, encompassing engineering, basic sciences, and bio-medical disciplines.

Eight technical tracks in fundamentals, applications, and emerging innovations, as well as three panels on leadership, government funding, and students, are organized in the conference. This μFIP conference emphasizes on energy applications and promotes interdisciplinary research to address climate change and water-energy nexus. The in-person platform offered by the conference is expected to lead to interesting and fruitful technical conversations that are important and timely.

Micro flows and interfacial phenomena affect a broad spectrum of the industry and life in general. Advances in this field enabled by the conference may help improve and optimize a large number of applications that benefit the society. Both fundamental and applied sciences will be disseminated, with academic, national lab, and industrial participation.

It is expected that the conference will lead to novel, collaborative approaches for addressing fundamental and applied problems in phase change and single-phase heat transfer, single- and multi-phase flows, bio-chemical and bio-medical engineering, and microflow processes including microchannel flows and microscale surface phenomena. A special emphasis is on formal and informal exchanges of ideas between junior researchers and established researchers in a friendly environment, with a focus on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Student networking events that consist of a student presentation session and a student panel will be organized to allow for ample interactions among the youngest generation of researchers. A special effort has been placed to promote gender parity amongst the conference organizing committee and invited speakers.

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.