Support for the 7th International Forum on Sustainable Manufacturing on "Sustainable Manufacturing in the Industry 4.0 Era"

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This grant provides funding to cover in part participant support costs for the 7th International Forum on Sustainable Manufacturing to be held during spring 2020 at the University of Kentucky premises in Lexington, KY. The theme of the event is "Sustainable Manufacturing in the Industry 4.0 Era". The forum aims to bring together nationally and internationally recognized academic experts, industry practitioners, government agency representatives as well as emerging researchers such as tenure-track assistant professors and post-doctoral scholar and graduate students to: (1) share cutting-edge research and industry practices in product, process and systems domains to enable total lifecycle-based sustainable manufacturing in the Industry 4.0 era, (2) provide a platform for different stakeholders who can contribute to advancing research and practice of sustainable manufacturing to engage in dialogue and discussions, (3) identify industry technology needs, research directions and workforce development needs for advancing sustainable manufacturing capabilities, and (4) increase awareness of sustainable manufacturing opportunities and challenges among all stakeholders. Special features of the event include: (1) invited presentations by experts in Industry 4.0 and Sustainable Manufacturing, (2) an "Emerging Researcher Showcase" with presentations from early-career researchers, (3) a panel discussion on "Opportunities and Challenges to Sustainable Manufacturing in the Industry 4.0 Era," (4) a student poster showcase, and (5) a "Sustainable Manufacturing Student Project Competition." This forum will provide an opportunity for tenure-track faculty, post-doctoral scholars and graduate students to interact with the prominent senior researchers and industry leaders in sustainable manufacturing and related areas facilitating a greater dialogue on the topics. This will facilitate greater awareness of each other's research to foster more collaboration between different organizations. Dissemination of presentations through different channels and potential scholarly publications will help contribute to a better understanding of sustainable manufacturing and related issues. This event will also serves as a feeder to the Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing (GSCM) to identify topics for continued dialogue and exchange of ideas among key sustainable manufacturing stakeholders. Local companies, who often do not have access to information about emerging practices, will have the opportunity to learn tools and techniques that can be used to improve the product, process and system level sustainability in the Industry 4.0 era in their own organizations.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.