Background:  Complex fluid and soft material formulations are ubiquitous, from shampoos to paints and coatings, inks to vaccines, drilling muds to foods.  These materials and products cannot be described by any single property or performance metric, but must instead perform a range of tasks simultaneously (e.g. mechanical, chemical, physical, and transformational) while satisfying a range of constraints (health, safety, environmental, regulatory, aesthetic, cost) and remain stably dispersed over extended shelf lives.  Multiple components are required for formulations to succeed, and each ingredient must play its role without disrupting the others.

At UCSB, we hope to build a community of expertise around these materials, connecting problems and questions with research and expertise by fostering interactions between industrial technologists, faculty, and students.

This forum will bring together speakers from a range of companies, industries and universities to discuss shared interests in multicomponent, complex fluid formulations.

Goals

• Through presentations, discussions, and brainstorming, this forum aims to:
• Identify interests, needs, priorities and concerns among our participants
• Highlight UCSB’s facilities, resources, and expertise, and brainstorm new capabilities
• Explore models for engagement between industrial partners and UCSB’s campus and community
• Discuss IP and confidentiality policies and issues

Ultimately, to identify promising strategies to sustain meaningful engagement and bring value to all participants

Help us shape these efforts!