The Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory (MEL) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology invites you to save the date and submit a white paper for the National Workshop on Challenges to Innovation in Advanced Manufacturing: Industry Drivers and R&D Needs.  This two-day workshop, chaired by MEL Acting Director Dr. Howard Harary, will be held in Gaithersburg, MD on November 3-4, 2009. 

The objective of the workshop is to identify key industry drivers for advanced manufacturing technology innovation, and the measurements and standards related R&D needs required to enable these innovations.  Drivers, needs, and technologies that span multiple manufacturing sectors are of particular interest, as are needs in infrastructural technology areas including measurements, performance metrics, test methods, and standards.

Discussions are expected to address a range of topics such as:

• Sustainability
• Flexibility, agility, reconfigurability
• New, advanced processes (e.g., additive manufacturing)
• Supply chain integration and lifecycle information exchange and management
• Science-based modeling and simulation
• Intelligence and optimization of manufacturing systems
• High throughput, high-accuracy measurement technologies for factory floor production
• Automation and robotics
• Manufacturing networks and communications
• Increased pace of innovation cycles

Call for White Papers:

Brief white papers, no more than 1-2 pages long, are invited as a means for participants to express their ideas and opinions relevant to the workshop objectives.  The white papers will be assembled and made available to all participants via the conference website prior to the meeting.

Some of the white papers will be selected for presentation at the workshop.  You will be notified by Monday, October 26, 2009 if your white paper has been selected for a presentation.  Workshop presentations, white papers, and discussion will be used to prepare a report that envisions new research needed to catalyze innovations in advanced manufacturing technology and systems.

WHITE PAPER SUBMISSION INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS:

• It is not the intent for these to be highly polished, formal, archival-quality papers, but rather to be simply a means for effectively communicating thoughts and ideas
• The two areas for which input/discussion is desired are, “What are key drivers for advanced manufacturing technology innovation?” and “What are the most important areas where R&D is needed (particularly in measurement and standards) to overcome barriers and accelerate manufacturing technology innovation?”  
• Discussion of present technologies and ongoing research should be provided ONLY as needed to provide context for answering these questions.
• The two-page limit will be strictly enforced.
• Please use no smaller than 10 pt font, and provide a paper title, author name , and organization/institution name at the top.  There are no other constraints on the format of the body of the paper, and it may include figures, graphs, etc.
• White papers must be sent electronically, to the workshop coordinator Dr. John Slotwinski at john.slotwinski@nist.gov no later than MONDAY OCTOBER 5, 2009.  

Deadlines:
October 5, 2009            White Paper Submission Deadline
October 26, 2009          Notification of Paper Disposition
October 16, 2009          Hotel Room Reservation Deadline
November 3-4, 2009     Workshop in Gaithersburg, MD

Click here for the agenda

Download pdf of workshop whitepapers