The symposium will also address progress in the development and applications of coatings and thin films as biologically active materials where the function of the surface is to interact with biological tissue.
Papers are solicited on topics corresponding to one or more of the following areas: (1) the characterization of coatings and thin films including modified surfaces such as composition, structure, adhesion and residual stresses, (2) the application of coatings and thin films to improve the mechanical, chemical and biological properties of materials. Mechanical properties include friction, wear, erosion, hardness and load bearing capacity. Chemical properties comprise corrosion and oxidation.

Papers dealing with developments of the understanding of the interaction between coatings and thin films on the one hand and biological materials on the other hand both on the molecular and cellular levels are solicited. Of special interest are papers describing new biological materials, surface treatments and surface or thin film characterization approaches from the biomaterial perspective. Papers elucidating characterization methods and results concerning mechanical properties, corrosion, fatigue, wear and friction behavior of implant materials, as modified by surface treatment, and/or coating are of great interest. A particular emphasis is also placed on the emerging coatings and thin films such as diamond-like, boron nitride and nanocomposite films with a wide range of applications.

For this Symposium, various hot topics would be particularly highlighted :

1) Multilayer coatings
2) Hard and multifunctional nano-structured coatings and thin films
3) Solid lubricant films and tribological coatings
4) Diamond, diamond-like carbon and related carbon films
5) Mechanical properties and adhesion
6) Microstructure of films
7) Innovations in coatings and surface treatments
8) Surface engineered materials for biomedical implants
9) Films and coatings in dentistry
10) Degradation and failures of coated materials in physiological environment

The manuscripts submitted to this symposium and accepted on the basis of the referee procedure adopted for regular papers would be published in the international scientific journal "Surface and Coatings Technology" by Elsevier.

Invited speakers

D. Babonneau (University of Poitiers, France) "Encapsulation of metallic nanoparticles in carbon and boron nitride thin films prepared by ion-beam sputtering"
J. Breme (Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany) "Tailor-made functional layers on Ti-implants for various applications in biomedicine"
H.F. Hildebrand (Faculté de Médecine, Lille, France) "Surface coatings for biological activation and functionalization of medical devices"
J. Jagielski (Institute of Electronic Materials Technology, Warsaw, Poland) "Ion implantation for surface modification of biomaterials"
B. Kasemo (Chalmers University, Göteborg, Sweden) "Micro- and nanopatterning of biofunctional coatings"
S. Mitura (Technical University of Lodz, Poland) "Interaction between carbon coatings and tissue"
I. Smurov (ENI Saint-Etienne, France) "Nanostructured wear resistant coatings prepared by thermal spraying and laser cladding"
M. Stueber (Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany) "Multifunctional nanolaminated PVD coatings in the system Ti-Al-C-N by combination of metastable fcc phases and nanocomposite microstructures"
H. van Swygenhoven-Moens (PSI Villigen, Switzerland) "Determining structural and mechanical properties of nanostructured thin films : synergies between simulation and experiments"
A. Tezvergil (Institute of Dentistry, Turku, Finland) "Fiber-reinforced composite laminates as coating for enamel and dentine"

Scientific Committee Members

G. Abadias (France), J.M. Albella (Spain), P. Andreazza (France), H. Barankova (Sweden), P.B. Barna (Hungary), M. Benlahsen (France), E. Bergmann (Switzerland), I. Bertoti (Hungary), G. Betz (Austria), N.J.M. Carvalho (Netherlands), A. Cavaleiro (Portugal), M. Cekada (Slovenia), J.-P. Celis (Belgium), J.Th.M. De Hosson (Netherlands), X. De La Fuente (Spain), M.-P. Delplancke-Ogletree (Belgium), S. Dub (Ukraine), C. Eisenmenger-Sitter (Austria), A. Garcia-Luis (Spain), C. Godet (France) A. Goullet (France), J. Kazior (Poland), A. Korhonen (Finland), D. Leinen (Spain), F. Levy (Switzerland), S. Logothetidis (Greece), B. Major (Poland), A. Matthews (UK), F. Maury (France), C. Meunier (France), C. Mitterer (Austria), J. Musil (Czech Republic), J. Nowacki (Poland), J.I. Onate (Spain), K. Oskomov (Russia), P. Ossi (Italy), P. Patsalas (Greece), N. Radic (Croatia), G. Radnoczi (Hungary), J.-P. Rivière (France), F. Rossi (Italy), V. Teixeira (Portugal), P.-Y. Tessier (France), M. Vieira (Portugal), T. Vieira (Portugal), S. Zhang (Singapore), O. Zywitzki (Germany).

Principal Symposium organizer:

Yves PAULEAU
National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble
CNRS - LEMD
B.P. 166
25 Rue des Martyrs
38042 Grenoble Cedex 9
France
Tel: 33-476-881071
Fax: 33-476-887945
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Symposium Co-organizer:

Jörg PATSCHEIDER
EMPA
Surface and Joining Technology
Ueberlandstrasse 129
8600 Duebendorf
Switzerland
Tel: 41-1-823-4365
Fax: 41-1-823-4034
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Witold GULBINSKI
The Technical University of Koszalin
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Physics
75-620 Koszalin
Poland
Tel: 48-94-347-8227
Fax: 48-94-342-6753
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