NSF RTG Conference: Materials and Optimization

This conference is part of the NSF RTG: Optimization and Inversion for the 21st Century Workforce and brings together researchers on the mathematical aspects of materials science and optimization. The conference will also honor the academic careers of our recently retired colleagues Andrej Cherkaev and Graeme Milton.

• Where: CSC 208 (Crocker Science Center), University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
• When: October 16-18, 2026

Plenary Speakers

• Kaushik Battacharya, Mechanics and Materials Science, Caltech
• Andrej Cherkaev, Department of Mathematics, University of Utah
• Robert Lipton, Department of Mathematics, Louisiana State University
• Graeme Milton, Department of Mathematics, University of Utah
• Michael I. Weinstein, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Department of Mathematics, Columbia University

Invited Speakers

• Nathan Albin, Department of Mathematics, Kansas State University
• Maxence Cassier, Fresnel Institute, France.
• Grzegorz Dzierżanowski, Civil Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology
• Leonid Gibiansky, QuantPharm LLC
• Christian Kern, Mathematics, University of Utah (formerly).
• Ornella Mattei, Department of Mathematics, San Francisco State University.
• Owen Miller, Applied Physics, Yale University
• Ole Sigmund, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Denmark Technical University (tentative).
• Knut Solna, Department of Mathematics, University of California Irvine
• Aaron Welters, Department of Mathematics and Systems Engineering, Florida Tech

Important deadlines

• Title/Abstract submission: July 31st 2026 August 15 2026
• Application for travel award: July 31st 2026 August 15 2026
• Registration fee payment: August 31st 2026 September 15 2026

Contributed Talks and Application for Travel Awards

To propose a talk and/or apply for a travel award, please use this form. With this form you can:

• Submit the title and abstract for a contributed talk. Contributed talks are 20min (15min + 3min questions).
• Apply for a travel award. A limited number of travel awards are available for postdocs and students ($300 + waved registration fee). In addition to filling the form above, the following materials need to be sent before the deadline directly via email to fguevara@math.utah.edu:
  • A résumé (PDF)
  • A personal statement (1 page, PDF). Please include a brief description of your research and any information that may be relevant to this travel award.
  • A letter of recommendation to be sent directly by the letter writer, also to fguevara@math.utah.edu

Talks and travel awards will be reviewed by the scientific committee. A decision on your talk and/or travel award will be given 1-2 weeks after the deadline. The applicant is responsible for making sure that the application materials are submitted before the deadline.

Conference Registration

To pay for the registration and/or banquet fee please use this form.

• The registration fee is $150 and includes coffee breaks and 2 lunches.
• There is an optional conference banquet on Saturday October 17, for $75/person.
• The registration fee is waived for invited speakers and for those receiving travel awards.

The deadline to pay the registration and/or banquet fee is August 31st 2026. September 15 2026. Thank you!

Lodging

The conference will take place on the University of Utah campus (building TBA) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Our campus is acccesible via public transportation (UTA). We recommend any hotel that is within walking distance to a lightrail (TRAX) station. The lightrail station closest to the conference venue is Stadium on the red line. The interval between lightrail trains is usually 15 minutes on weekdays and longer during weekends. For lodging on campus, consider the University of Utah Guest House.

Conference Schedule (Tentative)

Friday, October 16, 2026

• 8:30am - 9:00am – Welcome
• 9:00am - 10:00am – Plenary
• 10:00am - 10:30am – Coffee break
• 10:30am - 12:30pm – Parallel Sessions
• 12:30pm - 1:30pm – Lunch
• 1:30pm - 2:30pm – Plenary
• 2:30pm - 3:00pm – Coffee break
• 3:00pm - 5:00pm – Parallel Sessions

Saturday, October 17, 2026

• 9:00am - 10:00am – Plenary
• 10:00am - 10:30am – Coffee break
• 10:30am - 12:30pm – Parallel Sessions
• 12:30pm - 1:30pm – Lunch
• 1:30pm - 2:30pm – Plenary
• 2:30pm - 3:00pm – Coffee break
• 3:00pm - 5:00pm – Parallel Sessions
• 6:00pm - 9:00pm – Conference Banquet

Sunday, October 18, 2026

• 9:00am - 10:00am – Plenary
• 10:00am - 10:30am – Coffee break
• 10:30am - 12:30pm – Parallel Sessions

Contact Info

For questions please contact fguevara@math.utah.edu

Organizing Committee

• Elena Cherkaev
• Ken Golden
• Fernando Guevara Vasquez
• Christel Hohenegger
• Akil Narayan

Scientific Committee

• Anna Little
• Braxton Osting
• Raghavendra Venkatraman

NSF RTG Conference: Materials and Optimization, Program

This is a draft

Friday, October 16, 2026

• 8:30am - 9:00am – Welcome

• 9:00am - 10:00am – Waves and spectral degeneracy, Michael I. Weinstein, Columbia University

• 10:00am - 10:30am – Coffee break

• 10:30am - 12:35pm (Chair: TBA)

  • 10:30am – 10:55am – Pseudo-magnetism in a strained discrete honeycomb lattice, Xuenan Li, Purdue University
  • 10:55am – 11:20am – Double-Incommensurate Twisted Trilayer Graphene: A Momentum Space Tight-Binding Model, Kenneth Beard, University of Utah
  • 11:20am – 11:45am – Mechanical Modeling of Graphene, Brandon Burkhardt, Arizona State University
  • 11:45am – 12:10pm – Continuum model for twisted bilayer graphene with strain and relaxation, Tianyu Kong, University of Chicago
  • 12:10pm – 12:35pm – Intrinsic Wettability Prediction from Surface Characterization Using Machine Learning, Behman Azadpour, Brigham Young University

• 12:35pm - 1:30pm – Lunch