Message from the President – Summer 2026

Dear Colleagues,

Kanomax FMT

I hope your summer has started well. As I reflect on the year so far, I continue to be inspired by the passion, dedication, and collegiality of our AAAR members. Whether it is the hard work of our committee volunteers, the enthusiasm of our student members, or the consistent support of our broader community, I am reminded every day of what makes AAAR such a special organization. I truly believe that the strength of AAAR lies in its people, and I am grateful to each of you for all that you do.

On an exciting note, conference planning is in full swing, and the energy is incredible. We have received nearly 700 abstracts, which is a new record! Conference Chair Roya Bahreini, Past President Amy Sullivan, the working group chairs, and the virtual management team have all been working diligently to put together an outstanding program, and the preliminary program is now available online. This year’s conference will feature timely plenaries and special symposia, carefully selected tutorials to kick off the week, and a jam-packed schedule throughout. We are also thrilled to introduce a brand-new pre-reception event sponsored by Aerosol Magee that will combine a presentation on advancement in carbonaceous aerosol measurements with light drinks and refreshments. One highlight I am especially looking forward to is our new Up-Goer Five session, which will challenge members to explain their complex research using only the simplest, most common words.  This should be a fun and creative way to test how well we can communicate our science to a broad audience.

The Exhibit Hall is also coming together beautifully, with over 30 booths already committed. Our commercial partners are actively signing up to lead Hands-On Instrumentation Tutorials and Exhibitor Showcase presentations, and we are delighted to welcome several new sponsors to the AAAR family this year. Their support makes so much of what we do at the conference possible, and we are grateful for their continued partnership.

One of the most exciting new programmatic additions this year is the introduction of a Career Fair and Mentoring Session. We already have over 15 employers registered, with strong interest from students and post-docs across the community. When you register for the conference, please be sure to sign up for this event and enter your details at the link provided.  This is a fantastic opportunity to connect talent with opportunity in our field.

As some of you might know, AAAR has a partnership with the Centre of Doctoral Training to provide our members with access to e-portal training resources.  Join us during lunch time on Tuesday to a Team-Based Learning session on the fundamentals of aerosol science and to learn more about how you can take advantage of the free e-portal training resources.  Please look out for the option to indicate your interest in attending this free session that is open to all Attendees during your registration.

If you haven’t registered yet, please note that the Super Early Bird Registration deadline is expiring very soon (July 30, 2026), which has significant savings on the registration cost and if you miss that, the Early Bird Registration Deadline is August 27, 2026.  Please take advantage of the savings available with these offers.

Behind the scenes, we have selected Social Media Ambassadors who will lead AAAR’s efforts to highlight our conference activities across social media, identified Travel Grant recipients who will be funded to present at the conference, and Student Assistants who will support the running of the conference. Watch out for the announcements of these selections on the conference website, our social media, and email. We are grateful to all who applied.

Looking further ahead, beyond our 2027 Conference in Cleveland, we are pleased to share that we have recently signed an agreement to hold our 2028 Conference at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, VA. This downtown venue will bring AAAR to the mid-Atlantic region for the first time, and we are very much looking forward to it.

Beyond the conference, I encourage you to join us for our monthly AS&T Lecture Series. Each month, the Editors of our journal, Aerosol Science & Technology, select a high-impact paper to be presented by its authors, with each lecture hosted by one of AAAR’s Student Chapters. It is a wonderful way to stay connected with cutting-edge research and our student community between conferences. Past lectures are available on AAAR’s YouTube channel and in this link, and these are well worth a watch if you missed them!

As always, if you have any questions or there is anything I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at sdhaniya@clarkson.edu. I look forward to seeing and catching up with all of you in Pasadena!

Sincerely,

Suresh Dhaniyala

President, AAAR Board of Directors