Conference - Nano-Micromaterials for Circular economy and Sustainability in the East Asia Pacific

循环经济和可持续发展纳米微材料会议将于2019年8月29日至9月1日在新加坡国立大学举行，将把美国研究人员和学生聚集在一个合作和学习的环境中。这将促进美国和亚洲研究人员在新兴循环经济领域加强联合互动和研究合作。这次会议将有利于美国经济以及地区和全球经济，讨论纳米材料对生物和环境的影响。解决围绕负责任地开发纳米微材料的复杂和关键问题，对社会和环境都很重要。技术进步往往导致同时出现对人类健康、生态系统或两者的不利影响。预计这次会议将提供一个机会，讨论与循环经济和纳米科学和技术的可持续性有关的重要研究活动。具体地说，这次会议将是政府政策领导人和科学研究人员就这一新兴领域的实际价值进行交流和对话的独特论坛。预计将有数百名材料科学家和工程师、工业合作伙伴、学生、政府官员、社会和物理学家以及毒物学家参加这次会议。与会者的这一组成将促进积极的讨论，并促进新思想的交流。该会议将支持至少20至30名研究生，包括女性和在STEM领域任职人数不足的学生。因此，会议将为处于不同职业阶段的科学家和工程师提供联网和教育机会。循环经济发展势头稳定、人气旺盛，已经奠定了三大物质支柱的基础。它们是(I)资源的再生，(Ii)在生命周期内最大限度地利用资源，以及(Iii)将纳米-微米材料废物作为资源利用。与此同时，材料工程和纳米技术研究已经开始接受人工智能和大数据作为新工具的使用。因此，将在人工智能和数据科学驱动的教育和研究等新兴领域建立一个新的平台，并重新定位制造业，以利用网络物理空间提供的机会(称为第四次工业革命)。因此，将纳米微材料的工具和方法与循环经济相结合，将为进一步提高回收、重新设计、再制造、减少和回收的能力提供一个平台，并使可持续纳米材料的生命周期工程和评估得以改进。目前美国国内对循环经济的重视和关注将使这次科学会议能够推动循环经济纳米微材料的发展，朝着实现可持续系统的方向发展。将讨论的主要议题是：可持续纳米生物技术的资源再生、可持续废物管理、再生纳米材料的生物相互作用、通过纳米技术延长资源寿命、创新和绿色经济，以及纳米废物的影响。一次关于循环经济和可持续纳米微材料的专门会议，有该领域最优秀的知识分子参加，将使美国研究人员能够更负责任地开发这项技术。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The conference in nano-micromaterials of circular economy and sustainability, to be held at National University of Singapore, Singapore from Aug 29th to Sep 1st, 2019, will bring United States researchers and students together in a collaborative and learning environment. This will stimulate increased joint interactions and research collaborations between Americans and Asian researchers in the emerging circular economy field. The conference will be beneficial to the U.S. economy as well as to the regional and global economies, addressing the biological and environmental implications of nanoscale materials. Addressing the complex and critical issues surrounding the responsible development of nano-micromaterials is important for both society and the environment. Technological advancement has often resulted in the simultaneous emergence of adverse effects for either human health, the ecosystem or both. It is envisioned that this conference will provide an opportunity to discuss important research activities relating to the circular economy and sustainability in nanoscience and technology. Specifically, the conference will be a unique forum for leaders in government policy and scientific researchers to interface and dialogue with respect to the practical merits of this emerging field. It is expected that several hundred materials scientists and engineers, industrial partners, students, government officials, social and physical scientists, and toxicologists would attend this conference. This composition of participants will enable the promotion of dynamic discussion and facilitate the exchange of new ideas. The conference would support a minimum of twenty to thirty research students including females and those underrepresented within STEM fields. Hence, the conference will provide networking and educational opportunities for scientists and engineers at various career stages. Circular Economy (CE) has gained a steady momentum and popularity and has established three material pillars as its foundation. They are (i) regeneration of resources, (ii) maximize resources within the lifetime, and (iii) usage of nano-micro materials waste as a resource. In parallel, the materials engineering and nanotechnology research has started embracing the use of artificial intelligence and big data as new tools. Therefore, a new platform is to be established in the emerging areas of artificial intelligence- and data science- driving education and research, as well as repositioning the manufacturing sector to utilize the opportunities made available in cyber physical space (called the fourth industrial revolution). Hence, combining the tools and methodologies of nano-micromaterials with Circular Economy would provide a platform for furthering the capacities for recycle, redesign, remanufacture, reduce, and recover, as well as enable improved lifecycle engineering and assessment of sustainable nano materials. The current emphasis and focus within the U.S. on circular economy will enable this scientific meeting to propel the development of nano-micromaterials for circular economy towards achieving sustainable systems. The main topics which will be discussed are namely: regeneration of resources in sustainable nano-biotechnology, sustainable waste management, biological interactions of regenerated nanoscale materials, resource lifetime extension through nanotechnology, innovation and green economy, and nano-waste impact, will be focus areas. A specialized conference on circular economy and sustainable nano-micro materials, involving the best intellectuals in this area, will enable a more responsible approach to the development of this technology to be outlined for U.S. researchers.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.