Abstract
We will introduce what we mean by a 2-stratifold and a foam. Also, we will motivate why topologists study these spaces, including mentioning applications where they appear. We will present some results in the study of 2-stratifolds and explain the relation of what we call Heegaard foams and the study of fundamental groups of 3-manifolds. All this is joint work with Fico González Acuña and Wolfgang Heil.
