CMIS 2026 in Lugano: four days of international exchange on contact mechanics

From 21 to 24 April, the Continental Parkhotel in Lugano hosted CMIS 2026, an international congress on contact mechanics, organised by the Euler Institute of the USI Faculty of Informatics.

CMIS 2026 welcomed 61 participants from 17 countries, confirming its status as a major gathering of the international scientific community active in contact mechanics. The programme included six keynote lectures given by invited speakers, 43 scientific presentations, and a poster session, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the sector's primary research lines.

Over the four days, topics ranged from friction, wear, and tribology to computational and experimental methods, mathematical analysis, and multiscale and multiphysics approaches, with significant applications in biomechanics and geomechanics. Particular attention was also given to new research directions, including contact modelling in computer graphics and animation, as well as high-performance computing strategies for large-scale problems.

Leading scholars and experts delivered the keynote lectures: Patrick Ballard (CNRS, France), Daniele Panozzo (New York University, USA), Peter Wriggers (Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany), Mike Puso (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA), Anka Chen (NVIDIA, USA), and Jean-François Molinari (EPFL, Switzerland). The programme was further organised into eleven technical sessions and a poster session.

CMIS 2026 was organised by Rolf Krause, Patrick Zulian, Marco Favino, and Maria Giuseppina Chiara Nestola. In addition to academic activities, the symposium encouraged informal dialogue and networking among participants, creating a constructive environment for the exchange of scientific ideas and the development of new international research collaborations.