WORKSHOP: Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) Symposium; August 5-7, 2002, Austin, TX

固体自由曲面制造（SFF）领域在过去的15年中有了显著的发展。在对几何形状限制最小的情况下快速制造零件的能力已经在交通运输、医学、军事、微电子等领域得到了广泛的应用。随着这种增长，研究人员需要开会讨论SFF的基本和发展问题。一年一度的SFF研讨会于1990年首次举行，为SFF的各个方面提供了一个技术交流的论坛：材料、工艺开发、物理和计算建模以及应用。它是该地区最古老的连续会议，被誉为世界上最顶级的研究会议之一。从一开始，SFF研讨会组委会学生参与的理念就对会议和领域的成功至关重要。通过提供学生注册率约为常规率的三分之一来鼓励学生参与，并且在过去几年中实际上低于人均收支平衡成本。这项补贴在吸引学生方面很有效。2001年，大约32%的与会者是学生。与会者代表38所大学（13所国际大学）。与该领域科学领袖的互动有利于这些年轻科学家，并代表着对美国科学基础设施未来的投资。

The field of Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) has developed significantly over the fast 15 years. The ability to make a part quickly with minimal imitations on geometric shape has spawned applications in the fields of transportation, medicine, the military, microelectronics, and others. With this growth has developed the need for researchers to meet to discuss fundamental and developmental issues of SFF. The annual SFF Symposium was first held in 1990 to provide a forum for technical exchange of all aspects of SFF: materials, process development, physical and computational modeling, and applications. It is the oldest continuous meeting in the area and is reputed to be one of the top research meetings in the world.From the beginning, the philosophy of the SFF Symposium Organizing Committee of student involvement has been crucial to the success of the meeting and the field. Student involvement is encouraged by offering a student registration rate that is approximately one-third of the regular rate and which for the last several years have in fact been below the per capita break-even cost. This subsidy has been effective in attracting students. In 2001, approximately 32% of the entire meeting was students. Participants represented 38 universities (13 international universities). The interaction with the scientific leaders of the field is beneficial to these young scientists and represents an investment in the future of the US scientific infrastructure.