Newsletter from the IUTAM President

I am writing to you, the IUTAM community, as we prepare for ICTAM 2024, which will take place on 25-30 August 2024 in Daegu, South Korea (see https://www.ictam2024.org/). It will be an opportunity to bring together the whole of the IUTAM mechanics community in-person for the first time in 8 years. An enormous amount of preparation has already gone into this event by the local organising committee (in particular, Prof. Heuy Dong Kim and Prof. Simon Song) and by the IUTAM executive arm of the congress committee (spearheaded by its secretary Prof. Sanjay Mittal).

2500 abstracts have been submitted and we look forward to an excellent technical meeting along with a 100 year celebration of ICTAM. The quality of ICTAM 2024 is assured through the activity of the International Papers Committee that meets in Milan, Italy in early April. I want to thank the co-chairs of the sessions and the IUTAM Adhering Organisations for their help in pre-evaluating the submissions and for keeping to the deadlines. Please note that ICTAM 2024 and the attendant committee meetings of IUTAM will all be in-person and NOT run in a hybrid mode. This is to maximise the professional and social interactions between attendees, and to promote international collaborations and friendship as much as possible. Decision-making and research creativity frequently require off-line discussions over a coffee, lunch or dinner and this is best done in-person, in 3D.

IUTAM Symposia and Summer Schools have returned to their pre-pandemic mode of global operation, and I hope that this can continue in the future. Please note that the 2026-2027 call for Symposia and Summer Schools is now open, with a closing date for submissions of 15 April 2024. IUTAM funding is generous for these events, and we actively seek ways to make these activities more diverse, with additional funding to achieve this purpose. Please refer to (https://iutam.org/notices/call-for-proposals-for-iutam-symposia-and-summer-schools-2026-27-now-open)

In summary, I do hope to see many of you at ICTAM 2024, after the pandemic-induced 8-year gap. It will be an opportunity to re-connect with old friends and make many new ones.