Engineering research

Abstract: Social science scholarship has identified complex linkages between society and science, but it has been less successful at actually enhancing those linkages in ways that can add to the value and capability of each sector. We propose a research program to integrate natural science and engineering investigations with social science and policy research from the outset — what we call “real-time technology assessment” (real-time TA). Comprising investigations into analogical case studies, research program mapping, communication and early warning, and technology assessment and choice, real-time TA can inform and support natural science and engineering research, and it can provide an explicit mechanism for observing, critiquing, and influencing social values as they become embedded in innovations. After placing real-time TA in the context of scholarship on technology assessment, the paper elaborates on this coordinated set of research tasks, using the example of nano-scale science and engineering (nanotechnology) research. The paper then discusses issues in the implementation of real-time TA and concludes that the adoption of real-time TA can significantly enhance the societal value of research-based innovation.

Abstract: This work was supported by the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, Pembroke College, a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and a grant from Google.

Abstract: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC postdoctoral fellowship)

Abstract: Karl R. Haapala 1 School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, Oregon State University, 204 Rogers Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331 e-mail: Karl.Haapala@oregonstate.edu Fu Zhao School of Mechanical Engineering, Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Purdue University, 585 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907 e-mail: fzhao@purdue.edu Jaime Camelio Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 235 Durham Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061 e-mail: jcamelio@vt.edu John W. Sutherland Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Purdue University, 322 Potter Engineering Center, West Lafayette, IN 47907 e-mail: jwsuther@purdue.edu Steven J. Skerlos Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2250 GG Brown Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 e-mail: skerlos@umich.edu David A. Dornfeld Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, 6143 Etcheverry Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 e-mail: dornfeld@berkeley.edu I. S. Jawahir Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kentucky, 414C UK Center for Manufacturing, Lexington, KY 40506 e-mail: jawahir@engr.uky.edu A Review of Engineering Research in Sustainable Manufacturing Sustainable manufacturing requires simultaneous consideration of economic, environmen- tal, and social implications associated with the production and delivery of goods. Funda- mentally, sustainable manufacturing relies on descriptive metrics, advanced decision- making, and public policy for implementation, evaluation, and feedback. In this paper, recent research into concepts, methods, and tools for sustainable manufacturing is explored. At the manufacturing process level, engineering research has addressed issues related to planning, development, analysis, and improvement of processes. At a manufac- turing systems level, engineering research has addressed challenges relating to facility operation, production planning and scheduling, and supply chain design. Though economi- cally vital, manufacturing processes and systems have retained the negative image of being inefficient, polluting, and dangerous. Industrial and academic researchers are re- imagining manufacturing as a source of innovation to meet society’s future needs by under- taking strategic activities focused on sustainable processes and systems. Despite recent developments in decision making and process- and systems-level research, many chal- lenges and opportunities remain. Several of these challenges relevant to manufacturing process and system research, development, implementation, and education are highlighted. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4024040] Andres F. Clarens Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Virginia, D220 Thornton Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22904 e-mail: aclarens@virginia.edu Jeremy L. Rickli Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 217 Durham Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061 e-mail: jlrickli@vt.edu Corresponding author. Contributed by the Manufacturing Engineering Division of ASME for publication in the J OURNAL OF M ANUFACTURING S CIENCE AND E NGINEERING . Manuscript received July 11, 2012; final manuscript received March 4, 2013; published online July 17, 2013. Editor: Y. Lawrence Yao. Manufacturing and Sustainability The concept of sustainability emerged from a series of meetings and reports in the 1970s and 1980s, and was largely motivated by environmental incidents and disasters as well as fears about Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering C 2013 by ASME Copyright V AUGUST 2013, Vol. 135 / 041013-1 Downloaded From: http://manufacturingscience.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 07/09/2014 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms

Abstract: This paper addresses three questions: First, what is the extent of research transfer in natural sciences and engineering among Canadian university researchers? Second, are there differences between various disciplines with regard to the extent of this transfer? And third, what are the determinants of research transfer? To answer these questions, the paper begins by differentiating between technology transfer and knowledge transfer. It then identifies the individual researcher as the unit of analysis of this study and introduces a conceptual framework derived from the resource-based approach of firms. The paper then reviews the literature on each of the factors included in the conceptual framework, beginning with the dependent variable, knowledge transfer. The conceptual framework includes four categories of resources and one category of research attributes that are likely to influence knowledge transfer. Based on a survey of 1,554 researchers funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), comparisons of means of research transfer across research fields were conducted. Multivariate regression analyses were used to identify the determinants of research transfer by research field. The results of these analyses indicate that researchers transferred knowledge much more actively when no commercialization was involved than when there was commercialization of protected intellectual property. This paper thus adds to the relatively scarce evidence about knowledge transfer by examining knowledge transfer from a broader perspective than strict commercialization. The findings of this paper are also interesting for other reasons. We obtained statistical evidence indicating that researchers in certain research fields were much more active in knowledge transfer than those in other fields, thereby pointing to differences in levels of knowledge activities across research fields. Furthermore, we obtained evidence showing that only two determinants explained knowledge transfer in all the six research fields considered in this study, namely, focus of research projects on users’ needs, and linkages between researchers and research users. Statistical evidence obtained indicates that the other determinants that influence knowledge transfer vary from one research field to another, thus suggesting that different policies would be required to increase knowledge transfer in different research fields. The last part of the paper outlines the implications of the regression results for theory building, public policy and future research.