9614807 Zhang The award supports the National Conference on Rapid Prototyping to be held at the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, October 1-2, 1996. The objectives of the conference are: (1) to bring together of scientists, engineers, developers, and users from academia, industry, government, and trade associations to discuss key issues in rapid prototyping engineering research; and (2) to encourage students to exchange research experiences in the rapid prototyping education. The organizers plan to invite ten research leaders in the rapid prototyping field to discuss fundamental research issues. Invited companies will be demonstrating their recent developments with exhibits. The organizers also plans to invite ten graduate students from different universities to exchange their research experiences in this field. The participating students will be nationally selected. In addition, four high schools in the State of Maryland will be invited to participate in the hands-on workshop and exhibits to learn about rapid prototyping technologies at the conference. A conference proceeding will be assembled by the awardee. The principal investigator and his colleagues have organized similar conferences in the past. The University of Maryland has made strong commitment to support the activities. In addition, the Student Chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) at the University of Maryland is co-organizing the conference..
