ESF-NSF Workshop on the Applications of Adaptive Structures and Materials to Sustainable Energy and the Built Environment; held Paris, FR, October 15-17, 2008

当前的事态突出表明，世界各国需要开发可持续的能源资源，并更有效地利用所有能源。所需的进展是如此之大，以至于不能以一切照旧的方式实现——它们将需要在全球、国家和地方各级都作出重大承诺。这是我们这个时代的当务之急。有必要对问题和潜在的解决方案进行量化，并广泛地交流结果。为了解决这些问题，需要部署所有可能做出贡献的技术社区的成员。自适应结构和材料社区就是其中之一。在过去的30年里，这个社区的成员已经解决了换能器、多功能结构、形状控制和变形、隔振和控制、结构健康监测、能量收集和其他领域的挑战。现在是他们转向能源问题的时候了。宾夕法尼亚州立大学协调美国参加由欧洲科学基金会和美国国家科学基金会联合主办的国际科学研讨会。研讨会的主要目标是通过让研究人员了解当前广泛的能源领域的挑战，促进自适应结构科学和技术的新进展。欧洲代表团由ESF S3T（智能结构系统技术）计划的成员以及受邀的特定主题演讲者组成。美国代表团与美国国家科学基金会结构材料和力学项目办公室协调。必要时还特别考虑确保邀请在科学和工程领域代表性不足的群体的成员。

Current events highlight the need for the nations of the world to develop sustainable energy resources, and to use all energy resources more efficiently. The required advances are of such a scale that they cannot be realized in a business-as-usual approach -- they will require major commitments at the global, national, and local levels alike. This is an imperative of our times. There is a need to quantify the issues and potential solutions, and to communicate the findings broadly. To address the issues, there is a need to deploy members of all technical communities that could potentially contribute. The adaptive structures and materials community is one of these. Over the last 30 years, members of this community have addressed challenges in transducers, multifunctional structures, shape control and morphing, vibration isolation and control, structural health monitoring, energy harvesting, and other areas. It is time for them to turn to the problems of energy.The Pennsylvania State University coordinated U.S. participation in an international scientific workshop sponsored jointly by the European Science Foundation and the U.S. National Science Foundation. The primary objective of the workshop was to spur new advances in the science and technology of adaptive structures by exposing researchers to current challenges in the broad field of energy. The European delegation consisted of members of the ESF S3T (Smart Structural Systems Technology) Programme plus invited speakers for specific topics. The U.S. delegation was coordinated with the NSF program office for Structural Materials and Mechanics. Special consideration was given as needed to ensure that members of groups typically underrepresented in science and engineering were invited.