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A Scientific Formalism for Product Realization for a Global Manufacturing Enterprise:
An Opportunity for Graduate and Undergraduate Students
Deadline: June 15, 2007
Summary
We seek to make it possible for design students to attend the 2007 ASME Design Technical
Conferences. Travel grants will be based on the outcome of a competition. The competition
involves writing a research paper that addresses issues that are foundational to the creation of a
scientific formalism for design. There are separate categories for graduate students and
undergraduate students. Faculty volunteers from across the United States will be judges.
Judging criteria are based on the contestant’s potential for scholarship.
Awards
Travel Grant: A travel grant to cover actual expenses for travel to the conference will be made
to the winners. The maximum value of this award is $1,250.
Certificates: Every person given a travel grant will receive a certificate which will be awarded
at the DED Honors and Awards Luncheon.
Presentation of Results: All entrants will have the opportunity of presenting their material in a
poster session - winners are required to attend and be present with their posters at a specific
time. The cost of the poster displays are not covered by the organizers; we encourage
departments to underwrite this expense.
The Competition Story
Let us tell you a story. You are a consultant in the year 2007. There is a high tech, global
manufacturing enterprise that is seeking to hire a consultant. You have decided to compete for
this job. Now assume that you are being briefed by the company CEO:
"Welcome to this briefing. I am interested in positioning our company to be one of the
high tech, global manufacturing enterprises in the year 2030. I want to hire a consultant
who is able to define the characteristics of this company in the year 2030, the research
challenges it will face, its mode of operation, the partnerships it will need to forge, and
more importantly the technology that will be necessary to support its employees in being
globally competitive.
I urge you to cast your net wide as you look for information - skim the internet, talk to
people in different disciplines, and, of course, read material in books and scholarly
journals. I recognize that of necessity I am giving you a broad mandate. To help you
focus I am going to let you in on a little secret: I spent some time as an academic at a
university teaching design and I started my career at this company as a design engineer.
I am therefore particularly interested in the research issues that we, in partnership with
our colleagues in academia, will need to address over the next 25 years, namely, a
scientific formalism for product realization suitable for a global manufacturing
enterprise.
I am looking for a consultant who understands my needs and is cost-effective. I am
looking for a consultant who is able to conceive, research and articulate a bold plan for
the future of our company. I am looking for a consultant who is able to anchor his/her
dream in well-documented scholarship. Most importantly I am looking for a consultant
who will join my team for the long haul; a person who is able to keep learning and
helping my company negotiate its way through the first twenty years of this century.
This is how I would like to proceed: I would like to have your papers by June 15, 2007.
I will invite as many people as possible to attend the 2007 Design Technical
Conferences. Of course, our company will underwrite your expenses unto a maximum of
$1,250. At the conference you will be expected to participate in a poster session and
attend other briefings organized for you. Other details will be given to you by my
associates. Thank you all for coming. I will let my associates fill you in on the details."
And with a wave of his hand and a smile for all the CEO left the briefing room.
Submission Format
1. Cover Sheet
- Title of Paper
- Names of Authors, Institution, Contact Information
- Name of Advisor, Address and Contact Information
- Summer address and contact information if different from above.
2. Title + Abstract (maximum 1 page)
3. Paper (maximum 10 pages)
- Your twist on the story presented earlier: Please ensure that you put your paper in the context of the story. This is relatively easy to do. If you have a problem and need help doing so please contact the coordinators.
- Also be sure you describe a scientific formalism for engineering design and show how your work fits into this formalism. Then develop the theme in the context of your story and the scientific formalism you describe.
- Closure … based on what you have presented … identify research questions that are worthy of investigation … and other things that have caught your fancy!
4. References: Please feel free to write this paper using “I” or “we.” Do make this a personal statement in
which your share with us your sense of excitement for research and scholarship!
Two people can submit a joint essay, however, they will also need to share the travel money.
Students may win no more than two years.
More Information and Submission of Essays
Dr. Janet K. Allen
912-963-6901
janet.allen@me.gatech.edu
Professor Farrokh Mistree
912-963-6900 or 404-894-8412
farrokh.mistree@me.gatech.edu
GW Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Georgia Tech Savannah, 210 Technology Circle, Savannah, Georgia
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