The Geopolymer Institute organizes a “GeopolymerCamp” on every first Wednesday of July, every year, at Saint-Quentin, north of Paris, France.
Mark your calendars and plan on being in Saint-Quentin, France, on Wednesday 1st July 2009 for the first GeopolymerCamp (next year, not this year 2008).
GeopolymerCamp: What’s this all about?
GeopolymerCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interactions from participants.
It is not a conference, neither a congress based on extravagant high registration fees and luxus lodging costs; there is no papers, no proceedings, no pre-established schedule or program. It is a casual, informal meeting between anyone who has something to share, to communicate, and anyone with the desire to learn, to interact, and to meet with people. Everybody is welcome and invited to join.
The GeopolymerCamp spans 3 days:
Wednesday:
9:30: Registration
10:00: Prof. Joseph Davidovits Keynote
10:30: Keynotes from 2 or 3 people
12:00: Free Sandwich Lunch
13:00 - 18:00: First session with short lectures and panels
Thursday:
9:30 - 12:00: Discussion on revising, editing the book: Geopolymer Chemistry and Applications (1)
12:00: Free Sandwich Lunch
13:00 - 18:00: Second session with short lectures and panels
Evening: Free Drinks somewhere in the city center
Friday:
9:30 - 11:30: Sessions: standardizations of geopolymer processes; creation of Technical Committees (2)
11:30 - 12:00: Closing remarks and summary of GeopolymerCamp by Prof. Joseph Davidovits
12:00: Free Sandwich Lunch
Free time weekend in Paris.
The rules at GeopolymerCamp:
While loosely structured, there are rules at GeopolymerCamp. All attendees are encouraged to present or facilitate a short lecture or a panel (a panel is a small sessions of a few lectures on the same topic). Everyone is also asked to share information and experiences gathered at the GeopolymerCamp, either live or after the event, via public web channels including (but not limited to) blogging, photo sharing, social bookmarking, forum, wiki, and chat. You can record videos, take photos, write a lecture transcript and put it on the web. This open encouragement to share everything about the event is in deliberate contrast to the “off the record by default” and “no recordings” rules at many private invite-only participant driven conferences.
Be ready to participate - come with an idea for a session you can lead. You do not have to be an expert at your topic. You can also contribute to the discussion during a session. This is a great way to participate, since it spreads knowledge from everyone, instead of just coming downwards from the leaders.
(1) The GeopolymerCamp is the opportunity to prepare the new edition of the book Geopolymer Chemistry & Applications. Indeed, the Geopolymer Institute wishes to publish every year a new revised edition with the most up to date information. During this session, participants will propose subjects or issues that are worthwhile to be edited or added, and the assembly will discuss about it. Prepare your arguments if you want to see your last research, data, applications be added to this reference book.
(2) There is a need for standardization. Industrial manufacturing of geopolymer products must rely on standards, to compare with. When scientists are working on this field, they use their own standards or copy someone else’s process. The aim of this session is to create Technical Committees, like in any other international technology driven institution, to publish standards that technicians, engineers and scientists will follow and refer to in science, applications and manufacturing. For example, present codifications and standards ruling organic-matrix fiber composites are inefficient for fire-resistant and heat-resistant geopolymer-matrix fiber composites. Same for Geopolymer cements and concretes. They are better than Portland cement and concrete and should get specific standards. The world needs this standardization to witness and measure the real progress accomplished by the geopolymer community. We must stop empirical processing. Geopolymer is a science, not witchcraft. Any new development in geopolymer technology should follow these standards or create new ones. Everyone may give his opinion, talk about his experience; it is a very open session. We will collect, review and publish these standards every year during or after the GeopolymerCamp.
More information about this event at this page.
