We are pleased to invite you to participate in 5th International Conference on Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics, which will be held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD USA, March 8-10, 2010.

Registration is now available on our conference website: http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/info/PED2010/.

The Organizing and Program Committees have assembled an excellent technical program featuring a plenary on vertical egress systems as well as papers and posters on the following topics:

·         -Evacuation and pedestrian data collection from experiments and real events

·         -Data collection methods

·         -Behavioral theory for models

·         -Model development and modeling methods

·         -Large-scale and transport modeling

·         -Model validation/calibration

·         -Engineering guidance

In total, the program consists of 68 oral papers in (mainly) parallel sessions and 40 poster papers presented over 3 days by an international and diverse group of speakers. Also, on the first night of the conference, conference participants (and registered guests) are welcome to attend the conference dinner in downtown Washington, DC at the J.W. Marriott Hotel. Prior to dining, participants will be taken on a one-hour bus tour around Washington, DC.

This conference will provide new and exciting research that is certain to promote forward thinking and discussion both at the conference and beyond. 

Please find program information, registration details, and conference hotel information (Holiday Inn in Gaithersburg, MD) on our website: http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/info/PED2010/. Please note that there is a discounted registration rate for students; however, this is available to the first 25 students to register on a first-come, first serve basis.

We hope to see you in Gaithersburg, MD this coming March.

Sincerely,

Steve Gwynne and Erica Kuligowski

Co-chairs

Program Committee

PED 2010

http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/info/PED2010/