International Study of Hybrid Flexible Electronics
Kickoff Meeting 12/3/8
Duane Shelton
August 27, 2008
WTEC mission
Inform U.S. agencies, universities, and research community of science and technology abroad in critical fields
World Technology Evaluation Center, Inc.
Baltimore, Lancaster, Johnstown, Arlington.
Why Conduct International Assessments?
Guide U. S. R&D investments Look for good ideas abroad (tech
transfer) Find opportunities for cooperation Compare U.S. status with that abroad Justify investment in R&D. Pointing
with alarm is an example
Why Point with Alarm?
Research and education are changing rapidly abroad Greatly increased investments are producing
substantial outputs—we can learn from abroad Further, since we care about U.S. leadership of
engineering, we need more resources to compete Pointing with alarm can be a motivator, e.g. Rising
Above the Gathering Storm -> ACI, America COMPETES Act
Kostoff has shown that the PRC has passed the U.S. in scientific papers in Compendex
WTEC Past:Over 60 Studies Since 1989
Brain-Computer Interfaces (DOD, NSF, NIBIB, NINDS, 2 foundations)
Catalysis by Nanostructured Materials (NSF, DOE, AFOSR, DTRA)
Simulation-Based Engineering & Science (24 programs at 4 agencies)
WTEC also staffs the Nanotechnology Coordination Office and Inter-Agency working groups, and provides workshops
WTEC Future International Studies
Stem cells for tissue engineering Spinal cord injury Personal and service robots Hybrid flexible electronics
WTEC Methods
Write grant proposals that can pass peer review
Establish a coalition of sponsors who have resources to make it happen
Recruit a great panel from Government nominations
Conduct the study effectively; Government participates in decisions—like where to go
Maintain good host relations, so we can return in future studies
Publish an outstanding report
From Draft Statement of Work
What is the position of foreign R&D relative to the U.S.?
What are the barriers in development that can be learned abroad?
What are the innovations and ideas that are worth exploring in the U.S.?
What are the opportunities for international collaboration?
Dec 08 Kickoff Meeting
Mar 09 U.S. Baseline Workshop (Optional)
May 09 Study Tour Europe
Jun 09 Study Tour Asia (Optional)
Jul 09 Final workshop at NSF
Aug 09 Final report draft
Proposed Timeline
Sponsorship Benefits: International Assessment Study
Leverage of full study for price of a workshop Advances interagency cooperation Recognition in report and website Advance review of report Ideas for initiatives and cooperation Find out what your counterparts abroad are up
to
Basic International Assessment Study
4-person panel of U.S. experts Kickoff meeting with panel Advance work to pick sites and get access Study about 20 sites in one week (in Europe) Workshop to present findings to professional
community, with proceedings Written report: Introduction, Exec Summary plus 4
technical chapters, appendix has site report for each site
NSF (ENG and ECCS) has committed $160K for this
Some Options for a Broader Study
Additional study tour in second region—Asia ($140K)
U.S. baseline workshop ($40K) More panelists for broader scope
($40K each 1-area, $60K 2-areas) Book by major publisher ($30K)
Impacts: Initiatives
DARPA Flat Panel Displays Initiative DOD/DOC Electronic Packaging Initiative NTSC Electronics Manufacturing Initiative National Nanotechnology Initiative Benign Manufacturing MUSES Program Spin Electronics Program Announcement Tissue Engineering Strategic Plan
More Informaton
Web site at wtec.org Ben’s presentation on WTEC methods
later Shelton at 717-659-7714 or
Distinguished Panelists
NSF Director (Colwell) Directors of DOE Office of Science (Trivelpiece,
Dresselhaus) Chief of Naval Research (Mooney) Director of NIGMS (Cassman) Chief Scientist of the USAF (Feigenbaum) Vice presidents for research of IBM, Bell Labs,
Seagate Technology Presidents or provosts of UC (Berkeley, San Diego
and UC system) and Rensselaer Over 400 other engineers and scientists
Report Editing
Our reports are of academic quality with full citations, etc.
Analytical chapters written by experts Site reports are merely an appendix
They are edited several times We always have to extract chapters
from holdouts Published in 9 books; we now have an
international technology series with Springer with 4 published
Researchers have developed a rubber that is able to conduct electricity well, paving the way for robots with stretchable "e-skin" that can feel heat and pressure like humans.. "Objects that come into contact with humans are often not square or flat. We believe interfaces between humans and electronics should be soft." Takao Someya, University of Tokyo, in Science August 7, 2008
E-skin for Robots -- From Japan
A Hybrid Flexible Camera System—from Illinois
"We believe that some of the most compelling areas of future application involve the intimate, conformal integration of electronics with the human body, in ways that are inconceivable using established technologies." "This approach allows us to put electronics in places where we couldn't before. We can now, for the first time, move device design beyond the flatland constraints of conventional systems." John Rogers, Nature, August 7, 2008