Banff International Research Station

A couple of weeks ago I had a great experience at the Banff International Research Station (BIRS). A small group of us organized a "research in teams" event at the institute on the subject of "Analysis and Computation of Vector Functionalized Cahn Hilliard Equations and Application to Amphiphilic Materials." Sounds fun, right? Actually, I am really into this stuff. The Research in Teams events are limited to four participants. Here was our group:

The BIRS facility is part of the Banff Centre. The room we had to meet in had great blackboard space (for mathematicians, this is actually important) but also a great view:

We had three buffet meals a day. Quite good food and also a great view:

Near the Banff Centre there were plenty of short hikes. Below left are the Bow River falls:

We took Wednesday afternoon off for a hike at Lake Louise:

So far, I have made it seem that all we did was hike and eat, but we actually worked pretty hard. In a week it is hard to sort out specific technical questions, but we did do some. More importantly, we outlined a series of papers that we believe will be quite influential in both the Mathematics and Polymer Chemistry fields (and work that we can almost claim is all doable). The mathematical models we looked at describe the micro- and nano-scale structures that form in activated polymer materials that are key to new energy technologies (fuel cells, batteries, solar cells) and also have biochemical applications. In addition, their analysis is mathematically challenging. BIRS activities are funded by governments (Canada, Alberta, USA). Thank you taxpayers: I think what we did was useful and it was a lot of fun.