GRANTEES AND RESEARCH CONFERENCE

Putting a Face on the Future: Engineering Emerges from the Lab

As rapid advances in technology become more and more a part of everyday life, engineers must recognize the importance of connecting to broader society. A lack of understanding of science and engineering leads to loss of future engineers to professions with greater popular appeal, loss of funding support for future research, and at worst, irrational fears that close off future pathways. In contrast, knowledge creation and distribution are a critical part of a healthy democratic society - generating excitement, facilitating informed decisions, and counteracting misperceptions. This year's conference focuses on three aspects of humanizing engineering: (1) connecting with cognitive sciences to enhance human performance; (2) connecting with social and behavioral sciences to facilitate positive acceptance of change; and (3) building engineering education infrastructure to ensure continual growth.

You are cordially invited to attend the 2004 NSF Design, Service and Manufacturing Grantees and Research Conference in Dallas, Texas,  January 5-8, 2004 at the Wnydham Anatole Hotel.  The conference is hosted by the School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University.

Selected Speakers representing industry, academe, national laboratories, consortia and federal agencies will explore topics relevant to the future of design and manufacturing research and the SBIR programs nationally and internationally.  NSF will offer a proposal writing workshop and provide opportunities for one-on-one interaction with NSF program officers.  Tours of state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and of manufacturing laboratories will be a highlight of the conference.  Conference attendance is open to the public and industry representatives are particularly encouraged to participate.

The vision of National Science Foundation is "enabling the Nation's future through discovery, learning and innovation".  This conference focuses on the engineering and science base needed to design innovative products and systems, deliver high quality products and systems by discovering new manufacturing processes and responsive systems for the manufacturing and service enterprise, innovation of research to commercialization and education and employment of the diverse engineering workforce needed to thrive in a global economy.  With over 600 attendees during this event, this is North America's largest concentration of researchers in this field. The university attendees are at the forefront of education and research. Industrial attendees are often partners in these projects or are the entrepreneurs who take the research results to the marketplace.

You will meet:

The National Science Foundation's Division of Design, Manufacture and Industrial Innovation has been the common sponsor of this conference for over 27 years. It began with about 75 people who had research grants meeting on a university campus. Today, in addition to the representatives from NSF's Division of Design and Manufacture you will meet:

• NSF representatives and grantees from the divisions of Civil and Mechanical Systems, Electrical and Computer Systems, Engineering Education and Centers, Materials Research, Social and Economic Sciences, and the NSF's Small Business Innovation Research program.
• Program representatives and research projects from Canada's National Research Council (NRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Mexico's Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) and European Commission (EC).
• The industry based National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), as well as two professional societies, ASME International and SME. 
• Researchers and educational leaders, the largest group in attendance, who have active grants that were awarded after a rigorous peer review process. They are using these grants to define their field, identify innovation opportunities, while educating the next generation of engineers and scientists.

The Conference Venue and Organization:

Features of the conference are:

• Morning plenary sessions focus on innovative opportunities for interdisciplinary research, collaboration among researchers in academia and industry that cross national boundaries, directions and themes of governmental agencies, and the role of research and education in creating opportunities for the nation.  Speakers at these plenary sessions have included representative from the White House, NSF's Assistant Director for Engineering,  distinguished engineers and scientists, and many more.
• More than 400 poster presentations form the core of the program, with new posters each day. They present research results in engineering, science, and small business research projects. The posters also highlight educational innovations and collaborative projects with industry or that cross national boarders.  Both presenters and attendees find this is one of the best and quickest avenue to discover novel ideas, tools and innovation and thus establish beneficial collaborations.
• Tours of industries or major laboratories near the venue are part of the late afternoon activity.
• Numerous opportunities for networking is made possible in this dedicated conference. There will be opportunities to mingle with the people who are defining the multidisciplinary fields of design, service and manufacture, ranging from undergraduate students to the technical, business and political leaders who are changing the global marketplace. 

Conference host:

Dr. Radovan Kovacevic

Research Center for Advanced Manufacturing

Southern Methodist University

1500 International Parkway, #100

Richardson, TX 75081

Phone:  (214) 768-4865

E-mail:  kovacevi@engr.smu.edu