International Workshop on Bio-Inspired Geotechnics; Pacific Grove, California; May 19-22, 2019

该奖项为岩土工程一般领域的生物启发技术研讨会提供资金。 研讨会将于2019年5月19日至22日在加州的太平洋格罗夫举行。生物技术这门迅速崛起的学科由生物介导和生物启发技术组成。 生物介导技术，如微生物诱导方解石沉淀（MICP）水泥砂，已成为过去十年的主要焦点，并已看到指数增长。 该领域的积极研究现在存在于超过15个国家，公司已经成立，国家研究中心已经建立。 一个新的劳动力已经创建，与毕业生在两个和工业领域工作。 然而，生物激发的土工技术，作为土工技术的补充方面，还处于起步阶段。 这一领域正处于关键的形成阶段。 正在界定该领域的基本定义和范围。目前正在确定对研究工作具有特殊前景的具体领域。 对生物启发工程和设计（或仿生学）这一更广泛领域的理解和过滤正在进行中，这一领域本身在过去十年中基本上已经建立起来。与岩土工程行业就实际可能性进行的对话才刚刚开始。 生物激发的岩土工程领域是在一个国际，跨学科研讨会可以加速增长和确定未来方向的时候。 因此，研讨会的目标是开始建立跨学科的合作，确定研究重点和可能的资金来源，与业界就可实施性进行接触，并确定和解决进入该领域的研究人员和进入劳动力市场的工程师的教育需求。 本次研讨会将汇集来自学术界和工业界的约55名专家，他们在技术和人口统计学上各不相同，共同涵盖从岩土工程到生物学再到软机器人等领域的专业知识。 讲习班的参加者将包括资深调查员、助理教授和人数不足的研究生。 讲习班将在一个包容性会议设施举行，为期三天，该设施将便利持续开展计划的正式讲习班活动以及非正式互动。 该研讨会的结构经过精心设计，将脚手架，或逐步建立，从发展学科理解的共同基础，分享当前的研究和集思广益的新机会，以确定必要的“行动项目”或发展所需的步骤成熟这一领域。 一个非正式的环境，促进讨论，集思广益，自由分享想法，并发展合作关系已被纳入研讨会议程。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的，通过评估使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

This award funds a workshop on Bio-inspired technologies in the general field of geotechnical engineering. The workshop will be held in Pacific Grove, California, on May 19-22, 2019. The rapidly emerging discipline of biogeotechnics is comprised of both bio-mediated and bio-inspired technologies. Bio-mediated technologies, such as microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) to cement sands, have been the primary focus over the past decade and have seen exponential growth. Active research in the field now exists in more than 15 countries, companies have been founded, and national research centers have been established. A new workforce has been created, with graduates working in the biogeotechnics field in both and industry. Bio-inspired geotechnics, the complimentary aspect of biogeotechnics, however, is in its infancy. This field is at a critical, formative stage. The basal definition and scope of the field is being defined. Specific areas that hold exceptional promise for research are being identified. Understanding and filtering through the broader field of bio-inspired engineering and design (or biomimicry), which itself has largely become established in only the last decade, is underway. Conversations with the geotechnical industry regarding what might be practically possible are just beginning. The bio-inspired geotechnics field is at a time when an international, interdisciplinary workshop could accelerate growth and define future directions. Therefore, the objectives of the workshop are to begin building interdisciplinary collaborations, identify research priorities and possible funding sources, engage with industry regarding implementability, and identify and address the educational needs of researchers entering the field and engineers entering the workforce. This workshop will bring together approximately 55 individual experts from academia and industry who are technically and demographically diverse, and collectively cover expertise in fields from geotechnical engineering to biology to soft robotics. The workshop participants will include established senior investigators through assistant professors and underrepresented graduate students. The workshop will be held over a period of three days at an inclusive meeting facility that will facilitate continuous planned formal workshop activities as well as informal interactions. The workshop has been carefully designed in a structure that will scaffold, or gradually build, from developing a mutual foundation of discipline understanding, to sharing current research and brainstorming new opportunities, to identifying the necessary "action items" or developmental steps required to mature this field. An informal environment that fosters discussion, brainstorming, free sharing of ideas, and development of collaboration relationships has been incorporated into the workshop agenda.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.