FRONTIERS OF ENGINEERING
REPORTS ON LEADING-EDGE ENGINEERING FROM THE 2006 SYMPOSIUM
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Funding for the activity that led to this publication was provided by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of Defense–DDR&E-Research, National Science Foundation, Ford Motor Company, Microsoft Corporation, Cummins, Inc., and John A. Armstrong.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
JULIA M. PHILLIPS (Chair), Director,
Physical, Chemical, and Nano Sciences Center, Sandia National Laboratories
APOORV AGARWAL, EVA Engine PMT Leader,
Scientific Research Laboratories, Ford Motor Company
M. BRIAN BLAKE, Associate Professor,
Department of Computer Science, Georgetown University
TEJAL A. DESAI, Professor of Physiology/Bioengineering,
University of California, San Francisco
DAVID B. FOGEL, Chief Executive Officer,
Natural Selection, Inc.
HIROSHI MATSUI, Associate Professor,
Department of Chemistry, CUNY Graduate Center and Hunter College
JENNIFER K. RYAN, Senior Lecturer,
Management Department, College of Business, University College Dublin
WILLIAM F. SCHNEIDER, Associate Professor,
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Concurrent in Chemistry, University of Notre Dame
JULIE L. SWANN, Assistant Professor,
School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Staff
JANET R. HUNZIKER, Senior Program Officer
VIRGINIA R. BACON, Senior Program Assistant
Preface
In 1995, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) initiated the Frontiers of Engineering Program, which brings together about 100 young engineering leaders for annual symposia to learn about cutting-edge research and technical work in a variety of engineering fields. The twelfth U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, at Ford Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn, Michigan, was held on September 21–23, 2006. Speakers were asked to prepare extended summaries of their presentations, which are reprinted in this volume. The intent of this volume, which also includes the text of the dinner speech, a list of contributors, a symposium agenda, and a list of participants, is to convey the excitement of this unique meeting and to highlight cutting-edge developments in engineering research.
GOALS OF THE FRONTIERS OF ENGINEERING PROGRAM
The practice of engineering is continually changing. Engineers today must be able not only to thrive in an environment of rapid technological change and globalization, but also to work on interdisciplinary teams. Cutting-edge research is being done at the intersections of engineering disciplines, and successful researchers and practitioners must be aware of the many developments and challenges in areas that may not be familiar to them.
Every year at the U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, 100 of this country’s best and brightest engineers, ages 30 to 45, have an opportunity to learn from their peers about pioneering work being done in many areas of engineering. The symposium gives young engineers working in academia, industry, and government in many different engineering disciplines an opportunity to make
contacts with and learn from individuals they might not meet in the usual round of professional meetings. This networking may lead to collaborative work and facilitate the transfer of new techniques and approaches. It is hoped that the exchange of information on current developments will lead to insights that may be applicable in specific disciplines.
The number of participants at each meeting is limited to 100 to maximize opportunities for interactions and exchanges among the participants, who are chosen through a competitive nomination and selection process. The topics and speakers for each meeting are selected by an organizing committee of engineers in the same 30- to 45-year-old cohort as the participants. Different topics are covered each year, and, with a few exceptions, different individuals participate.
Speakers describe the challenges they face and the excitement of their work to a technically sophisticated audience with backgrounds in many disciplines. Each speaker provides a brief overview of his/her field of inquiry; defines the frontiers of that field; describes experiments, prototypes, and design studies that have been completed or are in progress, as well as new tools and methodologies, and limitations and controversies; and then summarizes the long-term significance of his/her work.
THE 2006 SYMPOSIUM
The four general topics for the 2006 meeting were: the rise of intelligent software systems and machines, the nano/bio interface, engineering personal mobility for the 21st century, and supply chain management applications with economic and public impact. The rise of intelligent software systems and machines is based on attempts to model the complexity and efficiency of the human brain, or the evolutionary process that created it, with the goal of creating intelligent systems, that is, systems that can adapt their behavior to meet the demands of a variety of environments. Speakers in this first session addressed the creation, use, and integration of intelligent systems in various aspects of everyday life in a modern society and suggested future capabilities of machine intelligence. The four talks covered the commercialization of auditory neuroscience, or the development of a machine that can hear; the creation of intelligent agents in games; the co-evolution of the computer and social sciences; and computational cognitive models developed to improve human-robot interactions.
The evolution in engineering that resulted from the harnessing of biomolecular processes, such as self-assembly, catalytic activity, and molecular recognition, was the topic of the session on the bio/nano interface. Two speakers described their work on using biotechnology to solve nanotechnology problems. Their presentations covered biological and biomimetic polypeptide materials and the application of biomimetics to devices. The third and fourth speakers took the opposite approach. They described solving biotechnology problems using nanotechnology. The topics were optical imaging for the in vivo assess-
ment of tissue pathology and the commercialization and future developments in bionanotechnology.
The papers in the session on engineering personal mobility for the 21st century were based on the premise that providing people in the developing world with the same level of personal mobility that people in the developed world enjoy is one of the great challenges for the 21st century. Mobility on that scale must be cost effective, efficient, and environmentally sustainable. Presentations addressed the history and evolution of the availability and expectations of personal mobility, the energy and environmental challenges for current forms of personal mobility, and prospective technologies that could transform personal mobility for this and future generations.
The last session was on supply chain management (SCM) applications with economic and public impact. Although effective SCM is now a significant source of competitive advantage for private companies (e.g., Dell Computer and Wal-Mart), researchers and practitioners have also begun to focus on the public impact of SCM, for example, the relationship between SCM and health care, housing policy, the environment, and national security. The presentations in this session were indicative of the widespread applicability of SCM, such as manufacturing processes, military procurement systems, and public housing policy. The last presentation focused on strategies for dealing with supply chain disruptions.
In addition to the plenary sessions, the participants had many opportunities to engage in informal interactions. For example, they attended a “get-acquainted session,” during which individuals presented short descriptions of their work and answered questions from their colleagues. The entire group was also taken on an informative tour of the Ford Rouge Plant.
Every year, a dinner speech is given by a distinguished engineer on the first evening of the symposium. The speaker this year was W. Dale Compton, Lillian M. Gilbreth Distinguished Professor of Industrial Engineering, Emeritus, Purdue University. His talk, entitled, “The Changing Face of Industrial Research,” included a description of the current situation in industrial research and a discussion of the technical and nontechnical problems facing our country, particularly the need to encourage innovative approaches, which are critical to U.S. competitiveness and national prosperity. The text of Dr. Compton’s remarks is included in this volume.
NAE is deeply grateful to the following organizations for their support of the 2006 symposium: Ford Motor Company, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, U.S. Department of Defense–DDR&E Research, National Science Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, Cummins, Inc., and Dr. John A. Armstrong. NAE would also like to thank the members of the Symposium Organizing Committee (p. iv), chaired by Dr. Julia M. Phillips, for planning and organizing the event.
Contents
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Introduction |
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Commercializing Auditory Neuroscience |
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Creating Intelligent Agents in Games |
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Co-Evolution of Social Sciences and Engineering Systems |
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Using Computational Cognitive Models to Improve Human-Robot Interaction |
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Introduction |
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Biological and Biomimetic Polypeptide Materials |
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Applications of Biomimetics |
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Optical Imaging for In Vivo Assessment of Tissue Pathology |
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Commercialization and Future Developments in Bionanotechnology |
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Introduction |
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Long-Term Trends in Global Passenger Mobility |
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Energy and Environmental Impacts of Personal Mobility |
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New Mobility: The Next Generation of Sustainable Urban Transportation |
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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATIONS WITH ECONOMIC AND PUBLIC IMPACT |
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Introduction |
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Supply Chain Applications of Fast Implosion |
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From Factory to Foxhole: Improving the Army’s Supply Chain |
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Managing Disruptions to Supply Chains |
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Engineering Methods for Planning Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities |