Partial Travel Support for US Researchers to Attend 2003 IEEE/ASME Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics Conference (AIM03)

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

Recognizing the needs for a synergistic integration of mechanical engineering with electronics and intelligent computer communication and control in the design and manufacture of products and processes, a new International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM) was jointly approved by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 1997. Since its first inception in 1997 in Tokyo, the IEEE/ASME AIM Conference has been held biennial, rotating the host country among Japan (AIM'97), the United States (AIM'99), Europe (AIM'01), and, in the future, other Asian Pacific-Rim nations as well. The conference has been co-sponsored by the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES), the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS), and the ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division (DSCD). The great practical significance of the conference theme has made past three AIM conferences a success and the conference has been expanded significantly from predominantly Asians participants in AIM'97 in Tokyo to a good representation of US scientists and engineers in AIM'99 in Atlanta, and the European participants in AIM'01 in Como, Italy. This year, the conference will be held in Kobe, Japan, in July 20-24, 2003. The conference will provide a unique venue where researchers, engineers and industrial exhibitors from the globe who are interested in advancing the state-of-the-art of mechatronics gather and discuss effective ways to advance mechatronics as an emerging engineering technology and a new discipline in the 21st century. In order to achieve the conference goal of bring together researchers from the globe in the fields of mechanical engineering (ME) and electrical engineering and computer science (EECS), partial funding is requested from the National Science Foundation to assist US researchers to contribute and present papers in the AIM'03. It is expected that such a partial support will not only encourage the active participation of US researchers in the conference to promote global collaborations, but also advance the US mechatronics education and research in a long run due to the following unique features of the conference: (i) the host country, Japan, has been excelling in Mechatronics, (ii) the conference will draw worldwide participation from 26 countries based on the accepted papers, (iii) an innovative format of interactive sessions will be developed the first time in demonstrating various real mechatronics systems, and (iv)unique industrial visits have been arranged by the Japanese organizers for conference participants in showing the practical applications of the discipline.