Background and History

The field of multiscale materials modeling aims to enhance predictive materials research by combining advanced materials theory with the principles of computational science. This field thus blends together theoretical chemistry, physics and mechanics of materials with mathematical modeling, computational mathematics and scientific computing algorithms. Multiscale modeling of materials is an evolution of the traditional materials modeling field, which is driven by highly improved theoretical formalisms of materials science problems; it also represents a revolution in this field because of the possibility of developing frameworks to tackle materials modeling problems at multiple time and length scales in unifying ways. Because it is a part of the wider field of materials science, multiscale materials research is intimately linked with experiments, and, together, these research methodologies will serve the dual role of enhancing our fundamental understanding of materials and enabling the design of new materials with improved performance. The new role of multiscale modeling in materials research motivated the materials science community to start the Multsicale Materials Modeling (MMM) conference series in 2002, with the goals of promoting new ideas in the field and fostering technical exchange within the community. Three successful conferences in this series have already been held.

• The first International Conference on Multiscale Materials Modeling (MMM-2002) took place at the Queen Mary University of London, London, UK, June 17-20, 2002.

• The second International Conference on Multiscale Materials Modeling (MMM-2004) was organized by the University of California in Los Angeles, USA, October 11-15, 2004.

• The third International Conference on Multiscale Materials Modeling (MMM-2006) was organized by the University of Freiburg, Germany, September 18-22, 2006: http://www.mmm2006.org/

MMM-2008 comes at a time where the wider computational science field is shaping up and a high level of synergy between the materials modelers and computational scientists and mathematicians is anticipated. The International Advisory Board and the Local Organizing Committee of the MMM-2008 conference are looking forward to your participation and to yet another successful MMM meeting.