Objectives and Relevance to Program Objectives: This recommended award requests support for travel, per diem, publication, and other minor expenses for seven Americans to participate in a seminar on wood technology in Finland. Professors Carl A. Eckelman, Antti J. Koivo, and Frederick T. Sparrow of Purdue University have organized the seminar with Professor Heikki N. Koivo, of Tampere Technical University, Finland. The purpose of the seminar is to bring together American and Finnish researchers on log positioning, defect detection in boards, and computer aided design and automation in furniture manufacturing. Wood processing for furniture manufacture has attracted much research in Finland and the topic is receiving more attention in the United States. The seminar will focus on the application of modern technologies, such as automation, robotics, and the use of computers in furniture production. The seminar speakers will review the latest methods and issues pertinent to these topics, and the participants will seek solutions to the problems that are defined. The seminar, on August 3-7, 1987, will include prepared presentations, visits to modern Finnish saw-mills and furniture manufacturing plants, and problem-solving discussions. Beside the NSF-funded participants, about 5-10 other Americans from the U.S. furniture manufacturing industry will be invited to attend. A similar number of Finnish participants are expected to be at the seminar. The conclusions of the seminar will be summarized and distributed to the scientific community. The project contributes to an important objective of NSF's cooperative science programs with Western Europe, which is to stimulate scientific progress by bringing together scientists and engineers from the U.S. and Europe who have similar research interests and who wish to engage in mutually beneficial research cooperation. Merit of Proposal: The prospect is good that this proposed seminar will lead to a significant contribution to engineering knowledge. The U.S. participants are respected, productive scientists and engineers. Their foreign colleagues in the project are also widely recognized for their expertise in the topics of the seminar. The work plan is sound and the budget is reasonable. The cooperating scientists and engineers have complementary expertise and the project is expected to benefit greatly from their combined efforts. Funding: This award will not duplicate other funding. The Academy of Finland has endorsed the seminar and is providing space for the meetings and is sponsoring the Finnish participants. The funding for this award will come from NSF's Manufacturing Systems Program in the Division of Science Base Development in Design, Manufacturing, and Computer Integrated Engineering. The Division of International Programs will administer the award.
