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There are a number of significant, long-standing open problems in 3-dimensional topology. The Poincare conjecture and Thurston's geometrization conjecture are the most famous, but there are a host of other, less well-known problems which provide a focus for current research in the field. The approaches taken by the many individuals and groups who have worked on these problems have been highly specific, and there are almost distinct subfields within 3-manifold topology distinguished by the techniques and strategies used to attack problems. The purpose of this conference is to gather researchers representing these different subfields so that each can share their particular expertise with those from the other subfields, and each will have the opportunity to learn in-depth about other approaches and techniques which have proven successful. While we are all aware on some theoretical level that cross-fertilization often leads to marvelous results in mathematics, achieving it even in one specific field is often difficult. That is what we would most like to accomplish at this workshop.
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