Co-Sponsoring of the 8th International Conference on Frontiers of Design and Manufacturing; held September 23-26, 2008, Tianjin, China

该项目寻求美国国家科学基金会土木、机械和制造创新部的资助，资助八名研究生、博士后和初级教师陪同他们的指导老师参加2008年9月23日至26日在中国天津举行的第八届国际设计与制造前沿会议（ICFDM）。ICFDM每两年举办一次，为设计和制造科学领域的研究人员提供交流与合作的场所。它也是促进设计和制造技术发展的平台。NSF支持了过去的ICFDM会议。智力价值在于学习和交流来自世界各地顶尖研究人员的新思想和新研究成果。今年会议的主题是设计与制造技术的创新与发展。传统上，该会议提供了一个机会，汇集了世界各地的学术研究人员和工业从业者，交流先进设计和制造科学技术的最新发展和应用，促进研究合作。这不仅对参加会议的美国研究人员和学生产生了广泛的影响，也对来自中国和世界其他国家的参与者产生了广泛的影响。会议由中国国家自然科学基金委员会、美国国家科学基金委员会、吴师明基金委员会、美国机械工程学会（ASME）、中国机械工程学会（CMES）和天津大学共同主办。

This project seeks the financial support from the NSF Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation for eight graduate students, post-docs, and junior faculty to accompany their faculty advisor to attend the 8th International Conference on Frontiers of Design and Manufacturing (ICFDM) in Tianjin, China on September 23-26, 2008. ICFDM is held every two years as a venue for exchange and cooperation among researchers in the field of design and manufacturing science. It is also a platform for promotion of the development of design and manufacturing technology. NSF has supported the past ICFDM conferences. The intellectual merit is on the learning and exchanging of novel ideas and new research results from top researchers around the world. This year, the theme for the conference is Innovation and Development of Design and Manufacturing Technology. The conference has traditionally provided an opportunity to bring together worldwide academic researchers and industrial practitioners for the exchange of the latest development and applications in advanced design and manufacturing science and technologies and for promoting research collaborations. The broad impacts are not only for US researchers and students participating in the conference but also for participants from China and other countries in the world. The co-sponsors of this conference include the National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Science Foundation (USA), Shien-Ming Wu Foundation (USA), American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME), Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society (CMES), and Tianjin University.