The NATO STO Collaboration Support Office and the Applied Vehicle Technology (AVT) Panel will hold a Research Specialists’ Meeting on "Novel Materials and Manufacturing in Military Vehicle Design" (AVT-384), to be held in Koblenz, Germany from 16-18 October 2024.

The meeting will be held in conjunction with the 54t^h AVT Panel Business Meeting (14-18 Oct 2024) and is open to citizens from NATO Nations and Enhanced Opportunity Partner (EOP) countries.

Theme and objectives:

In recent years the confluence of advances in gradient-based optimization techniques (e.g. density-based methods, L-system techniques, level set approaches, and their derivatives), novel materials (e.g. multiscale materials, metamaterials, smart materials, architected materials, and hierarchical materials), and novel manufacturing methods (e.g. agile and reconfigurable manufacturing processes, additive manufacturing, multimaterial printing, production rate flexibility and non-polymer 3D printing) have provided designers with materials capable of both complex geometries and idyllic smooth gradations across a domain, as well as the ability to fabricate them quickly.

The design community now finds itself in the unique position of being behind in the development of tools and models to take advantage of these opportunities. To that end, efforts across the community are underway to bridge this gap, enabling new opportunities to take advantage of the unique qualities of these new materials and manufacturing techniques.

This meeting aims to investigate the current state-of-the-art of novel materials and manufacturing techniques in military vehicle design and its ability to greatly reduce the time required to implement new materials and processes.

Topics to be covered:

• Integration of novel materials into design frameworks and agile manufacturing (characterization; experimental techniques; high temperature materials; metamaterials; multiscale materials; smart materials; architected/hierarchical materials);
• Integration of novel manufacturing capabilities (agile manufacturing; reconfigurable processes; additive manufacturing; implications on initial operating capability timelines);
• Developments in novel design methods (multidisciplinary design and optimization; integration of material design and manufacturing constraints; AI/ML-based generative design methods).

All details about deadlines and abstract submission are provided in the document "AVT-384 CfP" on the right side below the map.

Note: The deadline for abstract submissions is 01 March 2024