This award provides financial support for travel expenses for a group of US researchers to attend the 17th US-Japan Conference on Composite Materials in Sapporo, Japan on August 1-2, 2016 and to visit the Structures and Advanced Composite Research unit of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in Tokyo, Japan on July 29, 2016. Composite materials play an increasingly critical role in a large number of industries, such as the energy, automotive, aerospace and defense industries. Themes covered by the conference represent an interdisciplinary spectrum of topics related to mechanics of composite materials and composite structures and includes topics such as analysis, design, manufacturing, and applications of advanced composites. The travel award will target early career faculty from US institutions of higher education. A special emphasis will be placed on engagement of faculty from underrepresented groups, minority-serving institutions and NSF EPSCoR states. The travel funding will promote intellectual exchange between US and Japan researchers in the area of composite materials. Funding through this award will increase the number of junior faculty members from academia who will be able to attend the conference due to the financial support for travel. In addition, the selection focus on underrepresented faculty and the inclusion of faculty from minority-serving institutions would potentially broaden the demographics of successful early-career faculty in this field. Planned group activities will also facilitate mentorship, professional development and help to build a professional network among this diverse group of early-career faculty.