Workshop on Frontier Research Directions and International Collaborations in Sustainability Engineering; University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, February 20-23, 2007

该项目将支持美国研究人员参加一个研讨会，旨在确定可持续发展工程领域的前沿研究方向和潜在的国际合作。研讨会将于2007年2月20-23日在新西兰奥克兰奥克兰大学举行的可持续发展工程与科学国际会议“说话与行走的可持续发展”之后立即举行。研讨会参与者应受益于国际会议参与者的参与，并得到会议组织者的支持。八名将在研讨会中担任领导角色的美国与会者已经确定，并将担任研讨会的组织委员会。其余的参与者将通过一般征集和申请审查来确定。该项目将由卡内基梅隆大学管理。可持续性工程是下个世纪美国面临的重大挑战。重要资源供应有限，能源成本不断上升，全球环境影响正在显现。主要的工程规划、决策和实施将需要解决未来的可持续性问题。许多特定领域迫切需要综合可持续性的工程方法，例如水的使用和再利用、节能和无毒产品设计、新的建筑材料和方法以及地下工艺。在美国和国外，这一领域已经做了大量的工作，但是对于新工艺和新技术存在许多智力挑战。可持续性是一项全球性挑战，国际合作对于使美国的研究具有相关性和新颖性至关重要。本次研讨会将有助于美国可持续性工程研究界的成熟和研究重点的确定。更广泛地说，可持续工程的成功发展应导致对有限资源的更好管理，并开发现有的非可持续过程的替代方案。

This project will support travel by a diverse group of US researchers to participate in a workshop intended to identify frontier research directions and potential international collaborations in the general area of sustainability engineering. The workshop will be held immediately after the International Conference on Sustainability Engineering and Science, 'Talking and Walking Sustainability,' 20-23 February 2007, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. The workshop participants should benefit from participation by the international conference participants, and is supported by the conference organizers.Eight US participants who would have leadership roles in the workshop have been identified and will serve as the workshop organizing committee. The remainder of the participants will be identified through general solicitations and application reviews. The project will be administered at Carnegie Mellon University.Sustainability engineering is a profound challenge to the US for the coming century. Vital resources are of limited supply, energy costs have been rising, and global environmental effects are being observed. Major engineering planning, decision making, and implementation will need to address sustainability in the future. Engineering approaches that integrate sustainability are urgently needed for many specific areas, such as water use and re-use, energy efficient and non-toxic product design, new construction materials and methods, and underground processes. Considerable work has been done in the area, both in the US and abroad, but numerous intellectual challenges for new processes and technologies exist. Sustainability is a global challenge, and international collaboration will be critical to making US research relevant and novel. This workshop will aid the maturity and research priority setting of the US sustainability engineering research community. More broadly, the successful development of sustainability engineering should result in better management of limited resources and development of alternatives to existing, non-sustainable processes.