ECI Conference Series
January 11-16, 2026
Thompson Hotel
Savannah, Georgia
About This Conference
Additive Manufacturing (AM) has attracted substantial interest in recent times, promising a broad range of benefits. Of all aspects of AM, the development of new materials and the methods to make the best use of them are major priorities in this field. This is critically important because the products we rely on every day are manufactured using a huge variety of specialty material compositions. For example, a typical polymer part may contain pigments, plasticizers, toughening agents and reinforcement. Similarly, a metallic material may contain alloying elements for improved high temperature strength, corrosion and creep resistance, and a ceramic may contain dopants providing specific optical or dielectric properties. Currently, each new composition used in AM requires a significant development effort, and additive manufacturing processes are not always able to cope with the desired range of compositions. Likewise, while we have substantial freedom to alter the size and shape of parts, we lack robust design tools and process controls to design and define material properties and (multi)functionality within those parts with the same level of freedom, and to process such parts in a reliable and consistent fashion.
This conference will serve as a platform to bring together researchers and industrial practitioners with an interest in seeing these needs addressed in the context of AM through:
- New materials and materials development methodologies
- New ways of combining existing materials or incorporating local variations in properties
- New additive manufacturing methods that enable the translation of materials innovations into actual parts
- New developments related to design tools, process control, and metrology
The scope of the conference includes:
- Development of new polymers, metals, ceramics, composites, or bio-materials for AM
- Additive manufacturing methods enabling or taking advantage of materials innovations
- Characterization and validation of new materials for AM
- Generation, handling, and sharing of data to support development and characterization efforts
- Processing characteristics of new materials under AM-relevant conditions
- Optimization of AM parameters, post-processing and / or quality control
- Relations between properties of new AM-specific materials and parts prepared from them
- Approaches to the creation and characterization of hybrid / functionally graded parts
- Materials and process issues with strong relevance to hybrid / functionally graded parts (compatibility and interfacial bonding, fracture and fatigue, thermal expansion, etc.)
- Modeling, prediction and design of part properties based on materials characteristics
- Sustainable AM considering development of green materials for AM, end-of-life issues, resource recovery, and materials reuse
Conference Organization
Chair
Brett Compton, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Co-Chairs
Eric Eastwood, KCNSC
Nikhil Gupta, New York University
Daniel Schmidt, Luxembourg Institute of Technology
Joamin Gonzalez-Gutierrez, Luxembourg Institute of Technology
Pedro Cortes, University of Texas at El Paso
ECI Technical Liaison
Gary Gladysz, LANL
Call for Abstracts
Please use these descriptions to pre-select up to two categories where you believe your work fits best:
- Polymeric materials
- Metallic materials
- Ceramic materials
- Composite materials
- Sustainable & eco-friendly materials
- Smart, functional, or multi-functional materials
- Hybrid and functionally graded materials and structures
- Characterization of materials and structures
- Process optimization
- Material properties & performance
- Material modeling, prediction, and part design
- Materials and process development
- In situ process monitoring and modelling
- Autonomous materials discovery and process development
Abstracts (one page maximum) that include specific results and conclusions to allow a scientific assessment of the proposed oral presentation are invited. Please prepare your abstract according to this template: docx or doc.
Abstracts must be submitted electronically using the template provided at THIS LINK.
Oral abstract submission deadline: August 31, 2025
Poster abstract submission deadline: August 31, 2025
Abstracts of all presentations will be made available to conference participants prior to the start of the conference.
Note: Only a limited number of oral presentation slots are available and thus all submissions for oral sessions will be considered for both oral and poster presentation.
Awards will be presented to the top non-student poster as well as the top student poster
Venue and Transportation Information
Conference Hotel
This conference will be held at the Thompson Savannah Hotel (201 Port Street, Savannah, Georgia 31401). A modern hotel (built in 2021), it is located along the Savannah River’s edge where the Historic District meets the Eastern Wharf. It is minutes from the Savannah’s historic treasures. The hotel has free internet access, a fitness center, pool, concierge, room service, laundry service. It is also wheelchair accessible.
Parking is available (Overnight: $49/day; $20/day use plus tax). There is electric vehicle charging available in the city garage which is adjacent to the hotel.
Savannah, Georgia
Located four hours from Atlanta and on Georgia’s coastline, Savannah (known as the “Hostess City of the South” for its warm personality) is the quintessential Southern city with breathtaking architecture, a lively art scene, a wide variety of restaurants and a history that dates back for centuries. It was first settled in 1733 and is one of the oldest cities in the nation. Additionally, it was one of the first planned cities, set up on grids with squares in between. From the iconic Forsyth Park with its beautiful fountain to the historic River Street, conference participants will be able to enjoy walking along moss-covered, oak-tree-lined streets and squares filled with historic homes. Historic preservation saved many of the iconic buildings that the city is known for day.
Other popular sites to visit is the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist (a French Gothic cathedral dating back to 1876), the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters Museum, the Telfair Academy (home to the famous Bird Girl statue from “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”), Chippewa Square (best known as the site of the bench scene from the movie :Forrest Gump”), the Pin Point Heritage Museum (education about the Gullah Geechee heritage and culture the freed slaves that make up coastal communities), the American Prohibition Museum (self-guided, with 13 galleries with artifacts from the Prohibition era – along with the museum’s speakeasy, designed to embody an authentic 1920s speakeasy bar). The City Market district has four blocks of shops, restaurants and art galleries in former grain warehouses.
Transportation to the Thompson Savannah Hotel: Travel to Savannah: The city is served by the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, offering domestic and international flights. The Thompson Savannah Hotel is 11 miles (23 minutes) from the airport. A taxi is the fastest means of transportation and will take about 20 minutes (estimate $25-$30). A bus (line 3) will take just over an hour (estimate $7).
Previous Conferences in this Series
Innovative Materials for Additive Manufacturing (IM2AM)
March 8 – 12, 2020
Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico
Daniel Schmidt, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology
Nikhil Gupta, New York University
Chua Chee Kai, NTU, Singapore
Brett G. Compton, University of Tennessee
Innovative Materials & Methods for Additive Manufacturing II (IM2AM)
January 8 – 13, 2024
Tomar, Portugal
Daniel Schmidt, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)
Nikhil Gupta, New York University
Eric Eastwood, KCNSC/Honeywell FM&T
Brett Compton, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Gary Gladysz, Los Alamos National Laboratory
General Information about ECI
Engineering Conferences International (ECI) is a not-for-profit, global engineering conferences program, originally established in 1962 that provides opportunities for the exploration of problems and issues of concern to engineers and scientists from many disciplines.
The format of the conference provides morning and late afternoon or evening sessions in which major presentations are made. Poster sessions will be scheduled for evening discussion as well. Available time is included during the afternoons for ad hoc meetings, informal discussions, and/or recreation. This format is designed to enhance rapport among participants and promote dialogue on the development of the meeting. We believe the conferences have been instrumental in generating ideas and disseminating information to a greater extent than is possible through more conventional forums.
All participants are expected both to attend the entire conference and to contribute actively to the discussions. The recording/photographing of lectures and presentations is forbidden. As ECI conferences take place in an informal atmosphere, casual clothing is the usual attire.
Smoking is prohibited at ECI conferences and conference functions.