9731022 Villalobos This award will support a U. S.-Mexico program development workshop on research and educational opportunities in manufacturing. Organized by Prof. Rene Villalobos of the University of Texas at El Paso and Prof. Louis Martin Vega from Lehigh University for the U.S. side, and Prof. Eugenio Garcia of the Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey and Prof. Felipe Rubio of the Centro de Investigacion y Asistencia Tecnica del Estado de Queretaro for the Mexican side, the workshop will serve to identify opportunities for joint research between the academic and industrial communities in both countries and as a catalyst for the development of academic/governmental/industrial partnerships. The links in the area of manufacturing between the United States and Mexico are becoming stronger. The evolution of manufacturing in the United States, the increased presence of Mexican companies in the U.S. market, and the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are all conducive to the expansion of integrated manufacturing operations between the two countries. For these reasons, the NSF and the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) have agreed to support this program development workshop with the expectation that it will arrive at a set of recommendations that will be useful to both agencies and to others concerning the manufacturing arena. The activity is being jointly funded on the NSF side by the Division of Design, Manufacture, & Industrial Innovation (DMII) and the Division of International Programs. ***
