This award supports a U.S.-Taiwan workshop in Simulation-Based Engineering and Science (SBES) in Enabling Transforming Technology, with a focus on nano-engineered biomedicine. Dr. Yonhua Tzeng, Chair Professor of the Institute of Microelectronics in the Department of Mechanical Engienering, National Cheng-kung University in Taiwan, will co-organize the workshop, which is scheduled to take place from February 18-22, 2008 in Tainan, Taiwan. The meeting will address in an integrated fashion three of the most fundamental engineering challenges in nanoengineered biomedicine: materials, energy and manufacturing process. U.S. participation will include 15 researchers and 5 advanced graduate students. The program includes site visits to academic, government and industrial research labs.
The award stems from a May 2006 report of the NSF Blue Ribbon Panel on Simulation-Based Engineering Science, which among other conclusions, finds that the U.S. is loosing its leadership in SBES because competing nations in Asia and Europe have increased their investments in this area. The workshop in part aims to address this challenge by stimulating new collaborations with Taiwan, which has targeted nanoengineering and biomedicine as priority investment areas. The workshop aims in part to establish a common vision and plan for follow-up collaborative research among participating scientists. The Directorate for Engineering Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation cofunded this award.
