9709218 Egbelu Eleven United States delegation members will participate in a series of two USA-South Africa Workshops for Collaboration in Manufacturing Research and Education. The first workshop will be held in March 1997 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the second workshop will be held in May 1997 in Arlington, VA. The purpose of the workshops is for the participating researchers and educators to discuss the current manufacturing research and education activities in the United States and South Africa, so as to identify priority areas and effective ways in which the universities in the two countries can collaborate effectively in manufacturing research and education. The discussions in the workshops will address unit manufacturing processes of various kinds of materials, as well as quality control and system integration issues. Topics of discussion will include industrial robotics, high-speed machining, automated welding, reconfigurable assembly, semiconductor manufacturing, printed circuit board processing, quality control, logistic management, and manufacturing education. The workshop activities are an advancement of similar activities which have led to a significant increase in both quality and quantity of manufacturing research and education activities in South Africa. It is expected that the activities of the workshops will result in a follow-up of real collaborative activities between the United States and South Africa, particularly among university researchers, thereby leading to advanced technology development, better manufacturing education, and improved cultural understanding for both countries. ***
