Following suggestions raised by members of the Shock Compression of Condensed Matter Group, the TOWN HALL meeting at the SCCM 2009 Conference will take the following format:

Up to four Short Presentations will be made covering research areas relevant to the GSCCM. The aim of each presentation will be to present significant challenges for researchers in this area. After each presentation there will be an open discussion on the issues raised.

In order to capture the main points of each discussion, each presenter will submit a short statement of their main points for inclusion BOTH in the conference proceedings AND on the conference website. Questions, responses, viewpoints from the audience will also be recorded.

We hope in this way to make the Town Hall meeting both focussed in terms of topics and OPEN TO ALL for discussion.

At the SCCM 2009 these topics will be (a) Space Research - introduced by Dr. Shannon Ryan (b) Nanotechnology - introduced by Prof K.T. Ramesh (c) Compression Tools - introduced by Dr. Dave Funk and, if time permits, Temperature Measurement.

Acknowledgements - to Dave Funk and Dana Dlott for independently making suggestions that have lead to this format for the Town Hall Meeting.

Town Hall Chair - Jon Eggert

Town Hall Secretaries - Marcus Knudson, Ruth Doherty, Tommy Sewell and William Proud