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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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FIFTH ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM ON FRONTIERS OF ENGINEERING

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 Constitution Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20418

NOTICE: This publication has been reviewed according to procedures approved by a National Academy of Engineering report review process. Publication of signed work signifies that it is judged a competent and useful contribution worthy of public consideration, but it does not imply endorsement of conclusions or recommendations by the NAE. The interpretations and conclusions in such publications are those of the authors and do not purport to represent the views of the council, officers, or staff of the National Academy of Engineering.

Funding for the activity that led to this publication was provided by the Alcoa Foundation, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of Defense—DDR&E-Research, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Science Applications International Corporation, and the National Academy of Engineering Fund.

International Standard Book Number 0-309-06933-5

Additional copies of this report are available from
National Academy Press,
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Copyright 2000 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

National Academy of Sciences

National Academy of Engineering

Institute of Medicine

National Research Council

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
×

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

ROBERT H. WAGONER (Chair), Distinguished Professor of Engineering,

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ohio State University

FRANCES ARNOLD, Professor,

Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology

MICHAEL L. CORRADINI, Associate Dean,

Academic Affairs;

Professor,

Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin

KENNETH Y. GOLDBERG, Associate Professor,

Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of California, Berkeley

CONNIE L. GUTOWSKI, Chief Program Engineer for F-150, Expedition, and Navigator,

Product Development Center, Ford Motor Company

ERIK HAGERSTEN, Chair, Computer Architecture,

Department of Computer Systems, Uppsala University

DAVID MCLAUGHLIN, Fellow Engineer,

Westinghouse Science and Technology Center

JULIO M. OTTINO, Walter P. Murphy Professor and Chair,

Department of Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University

CLIFFORD L. RENSCHLER, Manager,

Electronic and Optical Materials Department, Sandia National Laboratories

EVA M. SEVICK-MURACA, Professor,

Chemical Engineering Department, Texas A&M University

JIAN-GANG ZHU, Associate Professor,

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Staff

JANET R. HUNZIKER, Program Officer

MARY W. L. KUTRUFF, Administrative Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
×

PREFACE

This is the fifth book highlighting the presentations of the National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) annual symposium series, Frontiers of Engineering. The 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering was held October 14–16, at the Academies' Beckman Center in Irvine, California. The 101 emerging engineering leaders (ages 30–45) from industry, academia, and federal laboratories who attended the meeting heard presentations and discussed cutting-edge research and technical work in four engineering fields. Symposium speakers were asked to prepare extended summaries of their presentations, and it is those papers that are contained here. The intent of this book, and of the four that precede it in the series, is to describe the content and underpinning philosophy of this unique meeting and to highlight some of the exciting developments in engineering today.

GOALS OF FRONTIERS OF ENGINEERING

The practice of engineering is changing. Not only must engineers be able to thrive in an environment of rapid technological change and globalization, but engineering is becoming more interdisciplinary. The frontiers of engineering are frequently occurring at the intersections of engineering disciplines, which compels researchers and practitioners alike to be aware of developments and challenges in areas other than their own.

At the three-day Frontiers of Engineering symposium, 100 of this country's best and brightest engineers, ages 30 to 45, learn from their peers about what is happening at the leading edge of engineering. This has great value for the participants in a couple of ways. First, it broadens their knowledge of current

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
×

developments in other fields of engineering, leading to insights that may be applicable to the furthering of their own work. Second, because the engineers come from a variety of organizations in academia, industry, and government and from many different engineering disciplines, it allows them to make contacts with and learn from individuals whom they would not ordinarily meet in their usual round of professional meetings. This networking, it is hoped, will lead to collaborative work, facilitating the transfer of new techniques and approaches across fields.

The number of participants at each meeting is kept at 100 to maximize the opportunity for interaction and exchange among the attendees, who are invited to attend after a competitive nomination and selection process. The choice of topics and speakers for each year's meeting is carried out by an organizing committee composed of engineers in the same 30- to 45-year-old cohort as the participants. Each year different topics are covered and, with few exceptions, different individuals participate.

The speakers at the Frontiers of Engineering symposium have a unique challenge—to make the excitement of their field accessible to a technically sophisticated but nonspecialist audience. To achieve the objectives of the meeting, speakers are asked to provide a brief overview of their fields and to address such questions as: What are the frontiers in your field? What experiments, prototypes, and design studies are completed and in progress? What new tools and methodologies are being used? What are the current limitations on advances? What are the controversies? What is the theoretical, commercial, societal, and long-term significance of the work? Many elements of these topics are captured in the papers as well.

CONTENT OF THE 1999 SYMPOSIUM

Magnetic data storage technology, applications of DNA array technology, renewable energy technologies, and optical applications of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) were just a few of the topics covered at the 1999 symposium. The four broad areas covered were information technology, advances in bioengineering and chemical engineering, energy and the environment, and optics. Utilizing the theme Drowning in Data, presenters in the information technology session talked about managing the enormous amounts of on-line data being generated. Topics covered included the data storage technology of magnetic recording, the role of large multiprocessor servers in today's computing infrastructure, network survivability and information warfare, and the future of Web search. The biochemical engineering session began with a presentation on the generation of miniaturized, high-density arrays of oligonucleotide probes that have a variety of applications, including the analysis of genetic mutations and as a tool for genomic mapping. This was followed by two talks that highlighted developments in the engineering of novel structures: colloidal scale

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
×

engineering—which has potential applications in optical information processing and storage, advanced coatings, and catalysis—and design strategies for creating synthetic macromolecular systems able to perform functions with biomimetic specificity. The third session of the meeting was titled Energy for the Future and Its Environmental Impact. Speakers in this session described the engineering challenges presented by deregulation in the electric power industry; the near, intermediate, and long-term role of nuclear energy; and the current status and future impact of renewable energy technologies such as biomass power, geothermal energy, wind, and solar power. In the optics session, one presentation covered the manufacture and commercialization of vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCELS), which will enable applications in optical communications, biomedicine, consumer electronics, and optical computing. A second talk described the recent advances in MEMS that have opened up new opportunities for optical and optoelectronic systems, including optical systems on a chip and monolithic integration of a large number of optomechanical devices. (See Appendixes for complete program.)

As in past years, the varied backgrounds of the participants set the stage for lively question-and-answer periods and discussions both during the formal sessions and at breaks and mealtimes. The topics covered during these times ranged from technical questions to broader public policy issues related to engineering. In response to suggestions from past participants, two break-out sessions and a summary session on the last day were worked into the schedule. At those times, attendees met in smaller groups to discuss more "generic" engineering issues such as engineering education and public understanding of engineering. The outcomes of those sessions can be found in the Appendix.

As has been done in previous years, a distinguished engineer was invited to address the Frontiers of Engineering participants at dinner on the first evening of the symposium. At the 1999 meeting, Kent Kresa, chairman, president, and CEO of Northrop Grumman, talked about the rapidity of change and its impact on the engineering profession. Citing examples from the automotive and aerospace industries, he described how the ability to meet seemingly insurmountable challenges not only promotes innovation but can remake entire industries. Mr. Kresa urged the Frontiers participants to be cognizant of the impact of rapid change on their careers, to persevere in pursuing their visions, and to have fun in their jobs. Mr. Kresa's remarks are contained in this volume.

As part of an ongoing process to make these meetings even more useful to participants, the attendees were asked to evaluate the Frontiers symposium. This feedback once again confirmed the value of the event. Attendees found that being informed about engineering areas with which they were not as familiar was very useful and had the potential to affect their research and technical work. Others noted that the opportunity to interact with engineers from other sectors and disciplines was broadening and inspiring. Suggestions for the future included having smaller break-out groups with more focused topics, poster sessions,

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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photos of all participants in the agenda book, and an alumni newsletter with "reunions" at several-year intervals.

Funding for the Fifth Annual Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering was provided by the Alcoa Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S. Department of Defense (DDR&E-Research), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Science Applications International Corporation, and the NAE Fund. The National Academy of Engineering would like to express its appreciation to these sponsors for supporting the symposium as well as to the members of the Symposium Organizing Committee (see p. iv) for their work in planning and organizing the event. A special expression of gratitude is due Robert H. Wagoner, Distinguished Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ohio State University, who contributed greatly to this activity by serving as chairman of the organizing committee for the 1997–1999 Frontiers of Engineering symposia.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Engineering. 2000. Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading Edge Engineering from the 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9774.
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Frontiers of Engineering is the fifth book highlighting the presentations of the National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) annual symposium series, Frontiers of Engineering. The 1999 NAE Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering was held October 14-16, at the Academies' Beckman Center in Irvine, California. The 101 emerging engineering leaders (ages 30-45) from industry, academia, and federal laboratories who attended the meeting heard presentations and discussed cutting-edge research and technical work in four engineering fields. Symposium speakers were asked to prepare extended summaries of their presentations, and it is those papers that are contained here. The intent of this book, and of the four that precede it in the series, is to describe the content and underpinning philosophy of this unique meeting and to highlight some of the exciting developments in engineering today.

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