ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | APRIL 2024 48 SMST 2024: OFFERING MORE SPEAKERS AND A BEAUTIFUL COASTLINE I n the SMST event cycle, it is once again time for SMST to visit Europe. For SMST 2024, we are excited to welcome you to the beautiful and picturesque town of Cascais, Portugal. With the focus on “Advances in Superelastic & Shape Memory Materials and Applications,” this is another fantastic opportunity for the community to regroup, discuss, and collaborate on the latest advancements in science and technology while also nurturing the next generation of leaders and researchers in this field. This dynamic venue provides the perfect ingredients to combine in-depth technical discussions around different topics with the creativity and vision of the community. We kick off the conference with the highly anticipated Nitinol education workshop led by Dr. Alan Pelton, FASM, along with a great lineup of passionate instructors. With the course curriculum constantly being refreshed with newer topics, this is always a great class whether you are a first-time student or a seasoned researcher in need of a refresher. For this year’s plenary talks, kicking off each of the day’s sessions, we have an all-star lineup of experts sharing their knowledge, including Stefan Seelecke, Kaushik Bhattacharya, Huseyin Sehitoglu, FASM, and our very own co-chair for SMST 2024, João Oliveira. The SMST community has been incredibly active across all disciplines and there is no better proof of that than the overwhelming number of abstracts received for SMST 2024. A tremendous thanks to the entire community for this incredible turnout. In addition to the recurring traditional exciting topics, activities in the area of elastocalorics are picking up steam as evident by a dedicated daylong session just on this topic. It has been a very welcome challenge for the chairs and the organizers to sort through and accommodate as many of these abstracts as possible and for the first time we are extending the SMST conference by a half a day to provide the opportunity for more speakers to showcase their work. Don’t worry, we still have some built-in free time during the conference for folks to explore the beautiful town of Cascais with its incredible food, seats where you can soak up the sun, and its beautiful beaches. At the event, we will introduce the new SMST William J. Buehler Award to recognize excellence in shape memory or superelastic technical innovation. Other conference favorites such as CASMART—the 6th student competition, medical and actuator panel discussions, vendors showcase, Best Poster awards competition as well as the Founder’s Grant awardee announcements will all be a part of the program. Finally, don’t forget to review the SMST 2024 technical program found online at smstevent.org. There is also an SMST conference app available through the Apple App and Google Play stores. Be sure to download the app to your devices before the event. If you haven’t registered yet for the conference, get your hotel and travel documents in advance, and get those questions ready. To both the veteran SMST attendees and the newcomers, thank you for your contributions and we look forward to meeting you in person at Cascais, Portugal. SMST 2024 Conference Co-Chairs Parikshith Kumar, W.L. Gore & Associates João Pedro Oliveira, CENIMAT – FCT-UNL Nuno Rebelo, Nuno Rebelo Associates LLC For additional information, and to register, visit smstevent.org. GUEST EDITORIAL 2 Kumar Oliveira Rebelo
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