2026 Electrostatics Society of America Annual Meeting

The Electrostatic Society of America (ESA) is pleased to announce the 2026 Electrostatic Society of America Annual Meeting. This meeting is hosted by NASA’s Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory. Presentation and paper contributions are invited in all scientific and technical areas of electrostatics, ranging from fundamental physics and new developments to applications in industry, atmospheric and space sciences, biology, medicine, energy, and other fields utilizing electrostatic phenomena.

Cocoa Beach is located in Florida’s Space Coast and is the closest beach town to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Between Cocoa Beach and KSC, Port Canaveral is the home base for the Disney Cruise Line and also sees regular cruise traffic from Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, and MSC. Cocoa Beach is only a 45-minute drive from Orlando-area theme parks, including Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World, and several tourist attractions along International Drive.

A substantially reduced conference fee will be offered to all student participants. Presentations by graduate and undergraduate students are eligible for the Student Presentation Competition. Please indicate the student presenter when submitting the abstract.

For those who plan to present a poster, note that the easels at the conference venue are about 24 inches x 36 inches. Please adjust the size of your posters accordingly and have them printed before the conference.

We are excited to have confirmed the following excellent keynote speakers:

• Elena Besley, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
• Mihály Horányi, University of Colorado Boulder, United States of America.
• Scott Waitukaitis, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Austria.

A special technical session on electrostatic discharge (ESD) will be organized by Ms. Lisa Pimpinella, Sr. Executive Director, the EOS/ESD Association. More details will come soon.

Tutorial sessions on various topics related to electrostatics are planned for the day before the conference officially starts (Sunday, June 14th, 2026). This will be a great opportunity to broaden your expertise and satisfy your curiosity in the areas that you wondered about but did not have a chance to explore. If you plan to attend these sessions, please ensure to also register for tutorials at the time of registering for the conference. Four tutorials and demonstrations are planned for Sunday, June 14th:

• Tutorial on electrohydrodynamics, presented by Professor Jamal Yagoobi (Worcester Polytechnic Institute).
• Tutorial on the fundamentals of electrostatics, presented by Professor Bilge Baytekin (Bilkent University).
• Tutorial on inductive charging in ESD control, presented by David E. Swenson (Affinity Static Control Consulting, L.L.C.).
• Tutorial on Plasma Applications, presented by Kenneth Engeling (Applied Plasma Innovations).

If you need a visa to travel to the US, you can request a formal invitation letter from the conference general chair, Monica Hooks (email at the bottom of this page). Please start your visa application process as early as possible as it might take months to obtain a visa.

NASA’s Electrostatics and Surface Physics Lab at KSC will be arranging a tour of their facility on Thursday, June 18. The details of the tour are still being worked and it is uncertain at this time whether foreign nationals will be allowed to tour. Anyone (regardless of nationality) who is interested in this tour should prioritize early abstract submittal to ensure their details are accounted for well ahead of the tour.

Late during the night of Wednesday, June 17, there will be an opportunity to go kayaking in the bioluminescent waters of the nearby waterways. If you are interested in this opportunity, please be sure to schedule your return travel for no earlier than Thursday, June 18. Tours are typically around $55 per person, and we plan to schedule this tour prior to the week of the conference so that we can all go as a group. These tours take place on the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge on Kennedy Space Center property, where there are very few lights or light pollution. The moon on the 17th will be a waxing crescent with only 9% visibility, further contributing to the darkness and the perfect conditions for viewing the bioluminescent dinoflagellate. It is truly a sight to behold!

To fully enjoy this tour, please be prepared for the following: staying up very late (you may arrive back to the hotel as late as 1 or 2 am), kayaking through pitch black water in the middle of nowhere, wearing clothes that will get wet and shoes that will get sandy while wet, dousing yourself in bug spray from head to toe (including over your clothes), and going up to 3 hours without a bathroom (including driving through the refuge).

The conference will be located at the Courtyard Marriott in Cocoa Beach (Address: 3435 N Atlantic Ave, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931). The owners of this property also own the Hampton Inn next door.

Attendees are strongly encouraged to stay in either the Courtyard (Marriott loyalty) or the Hampton Inn (Hilton loyalty) both for proximity to conference events and to ensure that conference fees remain low as a result of meeting our room booking quota.

Rooms at the Courtyard (conference venue) can be booked at the link below for your stay from Sunday June 14, 2026 – Thursday June 18, 2026. You can also call the number below to book a room at the Hampton Inn or to reserve dates outside of the blocked window. Note that you will see an additional $12 per day for parking when booking.  This will be taken off at check-in.

2026 Electrostatics Society of America Conference

Tel: (321) 784-4800

Courtyard by Marriott Cocoa Beach Cape Canaveral (3435 North Atlantic Avenue, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931)

Hampton Inn by Hilton Cocoa Beach Cape Canaveral (3425 North Atlantic Avenue, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931)

If you book through a different link, please call the hotel and let them know that your registration is associated with the 2026 ESA conference. The last day to book a room will be May 14, 2026.

The hotel is about 50 miles from the Orlando airport and there are no hotel shuttles. There are several shuttle companies that go between the airport and Cocoa Beach hotels that have individual and group rates, including Airport Canaveral, Cocoa Beach Shuttle, and Happy Hour Shuttle. There is also a smaller airport in Melbourne. While it is closer, there are still no hotel shuttles and a taxi or ride share service would be needed.

• September 1, 2025: Abstract submission open
• April 15, 2026: Abstract submission deadline
• April 30, 2026: Notification of abstract acceptance
• May 15, 2026: Early registration deadline
• June 14, 2026: Tutorial sessions & Informal reception
• June 15, 2026: Conference starts
• June 17, 2026: Conference concludes with a banquet
• June 18, 2026: NASA tour of ESPL

Monica Hooks (monica.j.hooks@nasa.gov), NASA Kennedy Space Center

Chair: Dr. Charlie Buhler (charles.r.buhler@nasa.gov), NASA Kennedy Space Center

Co-Chair: Dr. Simon Jantac (simon.jantac@gmail.com), German National Metrology Institute (PTB)