SHS’99

SHS’99 Outline

The V International Symposium on Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis (SHS’99) was held in the President Hotel, Moscow on August 16–19 1999. The President Hotel where the majority of the participants stayed is located in the Moscow City Center near the Kremlin. Due to excellent conditions for work and rest, the participants exhibited very high activity in all the events of SHS’99.

On the first day of the Symposium, three plenary sessions took place. The Symposium was “initiated” by Introductory Word given by Academician A. G. Merzhanov in which he told about the history of SHS Symposia and special character of the Moscow one. Then the Letter of Greetings from the Mayor of Moscow City, Yu. M. Luzhkov, was read to the participants. After that Academician O. M. Nefedov delivered his conceptual lecture about Russian Chemistry in a Crucial Period of National History. The Deputy Minister of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences G. F. Tereshchenko presented his informative lecture on Current Problems in Modern Materials Science. The 2^nd and 3^rd Plenary Sessions included 4 Minireviews on general directions and problems of SHS:

Chemistry and Technology in SHS R&D, Professor I. P. Borovinskaya (Russia)
Mathematical Modeling and Computer-Assisted Simulations of SHS Processes, Professor H. Viljoen (USA)
Experimental Diagnostics of SHS Processes, Professor A. S. Rogachev (Russia)
State-of –Art in R&D of SHS Materials in the World, Professor Y. Miyamoto

The participants of the Symposium were offered the following topic sections: Theory, Mathematical Modeling (2 sessions); Combustion Mechanism (2 sessions), Kinetics and Thermodynamics; Thermal explosion; Shock Wave and Detonation; Gravity and Microgravity; Effect of Electric and Electromagnetic Fields; Phase and Structure Formation; Chemical Synthesis (3 sessions), Technology (4 sessions), Ecology (3 sessions), Mechanochemistry; Ceramics; Composites; Cast Items; Nanophase Materials; Special Chemical Processes and Products; Organic Systems; Allied Topics; Industrial Application.

During these sessions presided by well-known experts in the fields mentioned above (taking place simultaneously in three halls) 124 oral presentations were made. During 3 Poster sessions, 57 posters were presented and discussed. Every Symposium day at 12 a.m. in the Main Conference Hall, the participants were offered invited lectures delivered by famous scientists working in SHS-allied fields:

Mechanochemistry and Chemical Activation: Modern Trends, Academician V.V. Boldyrev (Russia)
Liquid Infiltration Processes, Professor N. Claussen (Germany)
Self-Organization and Dissipative Structures in Materials Science, Academician Yu.D. Tret'yakov (Russia)

These lectures being very interesting for the audience were characterized by very high professional level.

During the Symposium the following 6 Round Tables presided by leading experts were organized

Applied Mathematics in SHS, Chairman–Professor B.J. Matkowsky (USA)
SHS and Promising Metallurgical Directions, Chairman–Professor Yu.S. Karabasov (Russia)
Inhomogeneous SHS Structures and Materials, Chairmen–Professor M. Koizumi and Professor Y. Miyamoto (Japan)
SHS in Chemical Engineering, Chairman–Professor A. Varma (USA)
Electrical Field Effects in SHS, Chairman–Professor A.S. Shteinberg (Russia)
Industrialization and Commercialization of SHS, Chairman–Academician A.G. Merzhanov (Russia)

The participants of the Round Tables exhibited rather high activity however, not all the Round Tables turned highly efficient. Some of them were held in accordance with the schematic of topic sessions (presentations illustrated with transparencies) and discussions were quite poor. The Round Table on Industrialization and Commercialization of SHS can be characterized by the highest activity of the participants. This identifies the importance of practical implementation of scientific innovations that it realized by the participants of SHS’99. Generally, this type of SHS Symposia sessions (Round Tables) is of significant importance and should be improved and applied in practice in the future.

In SHS’99, 209 researchers and experts from 19 countries of CIS, Western Europe, NorthAmerica and Asia participated. It’s rather naturally that the most of the presentations were delivered by Russian participants (72 oral presentations and 36 posters). Similarly to the previous Symposia, many presentations were made by participants from USA (12 oral presentations and 10 posters), China (10 oral presentations and 3 posters) and Japan (9 oral presentations and 4 posters). Activity of research workers from Israel, Italy, France, Germany and England has increased comparing with during the SHS Symposium held in Toledo, Spain. Participation of scientists (as co-authors of presentations) from such nontraditional with respect to SHS research countries as the Netherlands, Algeria and Sweden worth to be noted while researchers from traditional centers involved into SHS R&D form Greece, Brazil and Kazakhstan were not able to come because of different circumstances.

The Social events during SHS’99 included short trip aboard a pleasure boat along the Moskva-river (Welcome Party), reception at the office of the Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Academician О.М. Nefedov, Moscow and Podmoskov’e sightseeing, visit to Chernogolovka (ISMAN) and post-Symposium tour to Saint-Petersburg.

The VI International Symposium on Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis will be held in TECHNION (Israel Institute of Technology), Haifa, Israel in 2001.