The overarching objective of this project is to increase the participation of US students to advanced manufacturing research conferences. To address this objective, this award provides financial support to partially cover conference travel and registration to the 7th International Conference on MicroManufacturing (ICOMM'12) that will be held at Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois) 12-14 March 2012. The 7th ICOMM will focus on technical presentations and panel discussions on the processes, equipment, and systems for fabricating miniature parts with micro-scale features. The conference will address theoretical and applied research issues on manufacture, assembly, and metrology of components and systems with micro-scale features. The requested funds will fully cover the registration for up to 30 students from US institutions, and will provide partial support to cover their travel expenses. The intellectual merit of this project arises from the technical interactions of the US graduate students with the academic and industrial researchers, as well as with other graduate students working in the manufacturing field. Since many international researchers attend ICOMM traditionally, the US graduate student will be also exchanging ideas regarding global aspects of manufacturing science and technology. This is critical in providing a complete education and high-level perspective to the future industrial leaders and academicians the US students will become.
Educating the next generation of industrial leaders and academicians is vital to the future of the manufacturing field. Indeed, the recently-announced Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) initiative emphasizes the need for attracting and retaining the US students in the manufacturing field. The exchange of many new and innovative ideas during the ICOMM conference will address this goal directly, and will have a considerable impact to the future careers of the attending students, as well as to the future of manufacturing science and engineering.
The overarching objective of this proposal was to increase the participation of U.S. students to advanced manufacturing research conferences, and thereby, to retain and increase the number of future manufacturing leaders. To address this objective, the proposal requested financial support to partially cover conference travel and registration to the 7th International Conference on MicroManufacturing (ICOMM’12) that was held in Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) on March 12-14, 2012. A total of 36 students (M.S. and Ph.D. students) from U.S. institutions were supported for attendance to 2012 conference. The remaining funds were then used to support 15 more students (M.S. and Ph.D. students) from U.S. institutions for them to attend 8th ICOMM (2013), which took place in Victoria, BC, Canada. The ICOMM conferences focused on technical presentations and panel discussions on the processes, equipment, and systems for fabricating miniature parts with micro-scale features. The conferences have addressed theoretical and applied research issues on manufacture, assembly, and metrology of components and systems with micro-scale features. As a result, a total of 51 students benefitted this support. Intellectual Merit: The intellectual merit of this project arised from the technical interactions of the U.S. graduate students with the academic and industrial researchers, as well as with other graduate students working in the manufacturing field. Since many international researchers attend ICOMM traditionally, the U.S. graduate student have also exchanged ideas regarding global aspects of manufacturing science and technology. This is critical in providing a complete education and high-level perspective to the future industrial leaders and academicians the U.S. students will become. Broader Impacts: Educating next generation of industrial leaders and academicians is vital to the future of the manufacturing field. Indeed, the recently-announced Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) initiative emphasizes the need for attracting and retaining the U.S. students in the manufacturing field. The exchange of many new and innovative ideas during the ICOMM conference will address this goal directly, and will have a considerable impact to the future careers of the attending students, as well as to the future of manufacturing science and engineering.
