2007 AAAS Engineering Section Meeting

Friday February 16, 2007

Hilton San Francisco Hotel, San Francisco, CA

Room: Union Square 14

MINUTES

1.   Introductions: Matthew Tirrell, Section Chair, called the meeting to order at 9:30 AM.  He asked those present to introduce themselves. The attendance list is included in Appendix A.

 

2.      Approval of Minutes: Dr. Tirrell asked for comments and possible changes to the draft minutes of the Section Business Meeting held on February 17, 2006. The draft was posted on the Section website shortly after the St. Louis, MO meeting.  Copies of the draft minutes were also made available at the meeting.  There were no comments made or changes suggested.  A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes.  The motion passed unanimously.

 

3.      Approval of Agenda: The tentative agenda as shown in Appendix B was approved with no changes or additions.

 

4.      Announcements: Dr. Tirrell announced that Priscilla P. Nelson was elected Chair-Elect and Debbie A. Niemeier was elected Member-at-Large of the Engineering Section’s Steering Group both effective February 20, 2007.  The list of Section Officers and Members-at-Large for 2007-2008 is shown in Appendix C.  On behalf of the Engineering Section, Dr. Tirrell expressed our thanks and gratitude to Cristina Amon, Retiring Chair, and Jim Merz, Retiring Member-at-Large for their outstanding and dedicated service on the Steering Group.

 

Dr. Tirrell also announced that Melba M. Crawford and Rafael L. Bras were elected to the Engineering Section Electorate Nominating Committee.  He also announced that as a result of actions of the 2006 Council meeting, the retiring chair of each section is now an ex officio member of the Electorate Nominating Committee for their section and also serves as Chair of the ENC for that section. Dr. Amon, retiring chair has served in that capacity and effective February 20, he as retiring chair will serve in that capacity.

 

Dr. Tirrell also announced that 36 members affiliated with the Engineering Section were elected Fellows of AAAS in October 2006.  A list of the names of the new Fellows was distributed and is attached as Appendix D.  Dr. S.K. Sundaram, one of the newly elected Fellows, was present at the meeting:  Dr. Tirrell introduced him, welcomed him, and thanked him for attending the meeting.

 

5.      Fellow Nomination Process: Dr. Tirrell reviewed the AAAS Fellow nomination process which is the same as in previous years. There are three ways a candidate can be nominated: By a member of the Steering Group (method 1), by a group of three Fellows (method 2), and by the AAAS Chief Executive Officer (method 3).

 

He discussed the procedure for Fellow nominations by members of the Steering Group (method 1).  He mentioned that each nomination must include a complete Fellow nomination form and either a letter of recommendation by the nominator or a detailed C.V. with a list of publications (although a C.V. is an essential piece of the required documentation).  He encouraged members of the Steering Group to submit both.   He mentioned that for the upcoming nomination cycle, these materials should be mailed to Marwan Simaan (section Secretary) so that he receives it no later than March 23, 2007.  Marwan will then forward the materials for all nominees to Ellen Carpenter, AAAS Governance Associate, before March 30.  Information on the nomination process by a group of three Fellows (method 2) and a copy of the nomination form can be found on the AAAS main website.  A link to that website can also be found on our section Website (http://www.engr.pitt.edu/aaas-m).  Dr. Tirrell also mentioned that the deadline for Fellow nominations by a group of three Fellows is May 11, 2007. By May 31, all members of the Steering Group will receive from Ellen Carpenter copies of the nomination materials for all nominees, including those nominated by a group of three Fellows, and by the Chief Executive Officer.  They will also receive a voting sheet which they will need to fill and return to Marwan Simaan by June 29, 2007.  Marwan will then forward all votes to Ellen Carpenter.   By August 31, 2007 the Executive Office will mail a slate of all approved nominees to the Council for formal election. 

 

Dr. Simaan mentioned that the number of Fellows elected through nominations by the Steering Group is subject to a section quota which is 15 for this year (there is no quota for those elected through nominations by three Fellows or by the Chief Executive Officer).  For this reason, he asked that each member of the Steering Group nominate no more than 2 candidates this year.  He also asked members of the Steering group to inform him ASAP of how many candidates they plan to nominate, especially if they plan to nominate less than 2 candidates.  This will allow him to coordinate with the group to insure that all slots in the group’s quota are filled.  He also mentioned that in all three methods, a successful candidate must receive a majority vote from the Steering Group.  Furthermore, if a candidate receives more than two negative votes, the candidate will not be recommended for election to Fellow.

 

  1. 2007 Annual Meeting: The list of the 2007 Symposia and Lectures sponsored or co-sponsored by the Engineering Section is included as Appendix E.

 

  1. Planning for the 2008 Annual Meeting:  Dr. Tirrell announced that the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting will be held in Boston, MA, 14-18 February 2008.  The theme of the meeting is “Science and Technology from a Global Perspective”.  AAAS asked our section to brainstorm at our business meeting and arrive at three hot topics to be discussed at the Annual Meeting planning meeting which will be held on Sunday Feb 18.  These hot topics will form the basis for possible collaborative symposia sponsored by our section or co-sponsored with other section at the 2008 Annual meeting.   Dr. Tirrell asked for ideas and suggestions.  A discussion followed with everyone present contributing ideas. At the end, the ideas were grouped into three hot topics that would encompass many symposia that could be planned/sponsored by our section.  A summary of these topics is given below.

 

7.1: Globalization of Engineering Education

 

This symposium will address the issues of what should engineers know and how they should manage their careers in order to function effectively and be productive in a global engineering environment both to facilitate international cooperation and to maintain US competitiveness. It will also address the issue of how should current engineering curricula be modified/updated to prepare the engineer to function in this global environment. Outsourcing of certain engineering tasks will also be discussed.

 

7.2: Engineering to Meet Global Needs

 

Engineers are at the forefront in developing technologies to meet societal needs in a global environment.  Clean water, Clean coal, CO2 sequestration, Bioengineering are just a few of the globally challenging fields that engineers will be working in.  Several symposia could be proposed along these lines.  Dr. S.K. Sundaram volunteered to organize a symposium on clean coal with a tentative title:  “Clean Coal Technology:  Myths, Challenges, and Opportunities”.  This symposium will address the myths, challenges and opportunities in the development of clean coal technology.  It will include prominent speakers from DOE, universities, industries, and some international speakers to bring in a global perspective.

 

7.3: Grand Engineering Challenges

 

Within this topic, we hope to have a session organized by someone from the NAE Committee that is evaluating the responses obtained as a result of the NAE call for a worldwide brainstorming to determine the Grand Challenges for Engineering for the next 100 years and beyond.  Proctor Reed volunteered to make the necessary contacts within NAE to organize such a symposium. The symposium might include speakers that will describe the various challenges that the NAE committee has formulated.

 

Another possible symposium within the same general theme could be organized to include speakers who are past recipient of prizes for providing best solutions to grand engineering challenges. Many of the challenging engineering problems are being addressed through an approach of submitting solutions for prize money through foundations, academies, etc... For researchers (such as faculty in academia) who are used to the standard grant funding approach, this is drastic change.  Chris Hill volunteered to contact possible organizers for such a symposium. In this symposium, it is hoped that engineers who have received prize monies for submitting winning solutions to challenging problems could discuss their experience in what it would take to produce a winning submission.

 

Two other possible symposia were also discussed. The first was suggested by Al Wechsler via an email message to Marwan Simaan prior to the business meeting.  Al suggested a symposium on “Open Innovation” which basically means the acquisition of technology/innovative ideas, products and processes from sources external to your organization that may extend beyond just North America and Europe but also to less developed countries. Al believes that it is possible to get speakers from leading companies and universities to discuss the efforts they have made in this area and what else can be done.  A brief discussion on this topic ensued and the general consensus was that this is a valid topic for a 90-minute symposium and would be supported by our section.  Some comments were also made that it would be helpful to clarify the main ideas behind this proposal since there were several different interpretations of what is included in Al’s email. The second suggested symposium was on “classroom acoustics” and was proposed by David Lubman.  The idea of this proposal is that classrooms have become very noisy and that kids in these classrooms are not able to learn because they cannot hear well. David suggested that he could organize a 90-minute symposium around this topic with expert speakers.  He indicated that this topic has global implications since the World Health Organization has already established standards and guidelines for classroom noise.  There was general agreement that the section would support such a proposal.  A suggestion was also made for a symposium on non-proliferation alternatives, but a subsequent suggestion of the head of IAEA as plenary speaker may address this topic.

 

Finally, Dr. Tirrell asked for suggestions for Plenary and Topical lectures speakers.  The following names were suggested.  For plenary speakers: Susan Hockfield (MIT), Dwight Streit (Northrop Grumman), Bob Brown (Boston University), Richard Meserve (Carnegie Institute), Mohammad ElBaradei (IAEA) and Ann Lauvergeon (AREVA).  For topical speakers: Klaus Lackner (Columbia), Angela Belcher (MIT) and Steve Director (Drexel).

 

8.               Other Business:  Sarah Banas of the AAAS Center for Science, Technology, and Sustainability brought to the section’s attention a proposal for continued sustainability activities throughout the year that sought to get sections and members more involved in the Center’s activities.  She distributed a draft copy of the proposal and asked for feedback from the group to make the activity most applicable to engineering members.  The section generally supported having members involved in section activities and offered to provide feedback. Comments and suggestions should be mailed to her at sbanas@aaas.org.

 

9.               Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 12:35 PM.

 

 

Submitted by:

Marwan A. Simaan

Section Secretary

February 20, 2007

 

Appendix A

Attendance List

 

 

1.                  Matthew Tirrell, Chair

2.                  Marwan Simaan, Secretary

3.                  Cristina Amon, Retiring-Chair

4.                  S. K. Sundaram

5.                  Sarah Banas, AAAS Liaison

6.                  Peter Bainum, Representative, American Astronautical Society

7.                  Proctor Reid, Section P Secretary/NAE

8.                  Chris Hill, Member-at-Large

9.                  Gail H. Marcus, Chair-Elect

10.              Subhash Singhal

11.              David Lubman, Representative, Acoustical Society of America

12.              James Merz, Member-at-Large 

13.              Grigorios Delaportas

14.              James G. Harris

 

Appendix B

AAAS

2007 Engineering Section Business Meeting

Friday February 16, 2007 

9:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Place: Hilton San Francisco

Room: Union Square 14

 

TENTATIVE AGENDA

 

1.    Introductions

2.    Approval of minutes of previous meeting

3.    Announcements

(a)   Officers for 2007-2008

(b)   New Engineering Section AAAS Fellows

4.    Discussion of Fellow nomination process

5.    Discussion of proposed symposia and seminars for the 2008 Annual Meeting

6.    New Business

 

 

 

Appendix C

 

2007-08 AAAS Section on Engineering Steering Group

 

(Officers and Members-at-Large, effective February 20, 2007)

 

Officers

Members-at-Large  

Gail H. Marcus, Chair (2007)

OECD Nuclear Energy Agency
55, rue Molitor

F-75016, Paris, France
Tel: +33-1-45-24-10-02

Fax: +33-1-45-24-11-19

E-mail: ghmarcus@aol.com

 

Christopher T. Hill (2008)

Office of the Provost

George Mason University

4400 University Dr., MS 3A2

Fairfax, VA 22030

Tel: (703) 993-2270

Fax: (703) 993-8871

E-mail: chill2@gmu.edu

 

Matthew Tirrell, Retiring Chair (2007)

College of Engineering

University of California

Santa Barbara, CA  93106-5130

Tel: (805) 893-3141

Fax: (805) 893-8124

E-mail: tirrell@engineering.ucsb.edu

Frances H. Arnold (2009)

Div. of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering

MC 210-41

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, CA 91125-4100

Tel: (626) 395-4162

Fax: (626) 568-8743

E-mail:frances@cheme.caltech.edu

Priscilla P. Nelson, Chair-Elect (2007)

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Fenster Hall 380

323 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Newark, NJ 07102-1982

Tel: (973) 596-3220

Fax: (973) 642-4079

E-mail: pnelson@njit.edu

 

Herbert H. Richardson (2010)

Texas Transportation Institute

The Texas A&M University System

College Station, TX 77802

Tel: (979)-845-8552

Fax: (979)-845-9356

E-mail: herbert-richardson@tamu.edu

 

Marwan A. Simaan, Secretary (2010)

Department of Electrical Engineering

348 Benedum Hall

University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Tel: (412) 624-8099

Fax: (412) 624-8003

E-mail: simaan@engr.pitt.edu 

Debbie A. Niemeier (2011)

Dept. of Civil and Environ. Engineering

University of California, Davis

Davis, CA 95616

Tel: (530) 752-8918

Fax: (530) 752-7872

E-mail: dniemeier@ucdavis.edu

 

 

 

Appendix D

New AAAS Fellows elected in October 2006

Engineering Section

·       Reza Abbaschian, University of California, Riverside

·       Cereje Agonafer, University of Texas at Arlington

·       Kristi S. Anseth, University of Colorado

·       Norman Augustine, Retired President and CEO, Martin Marietta Aerospace

·       David D. Awschalom, University of California, Santa Barbara

·       Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, Virginia Commonwealth University

·       Ray M. Bowen, Texas A&M University

·       Linda J. Broadbelt, Northwestern University

·       Robert J. Budnitz, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

·       Wilfred Chen, University of California, Riverside

·       Marc Deshusses, University of California, Riverside

·       Yasuhiko Fujii, Tokyo Institute of Technology

·       Alice P. Gast, Lehigh University

·       Chris T. Hendrickson, Carnegie Mellon University

·       Linda P. B. Katehi, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

·       Mujid S. Kazimi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

·       Robert M. Kelly, North Carolina State University

·       Chaitan Khosla, Stanford University

·       Gyungho Lee, University of Illinois, Chicago

·       Sang Yup Lee, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

·       Mark S. Lundstrom, Purdue University

·       Susan McCahan, University of Toronto

·       Robert G. Parker, Ohio State University

·       Victor G.J. Rogers, University of California, Riverside

·       David Rossin, Stanford University

·       Kirk H. Schulz, Mississippi State University

·       Krishna Shenai, Utah State University

·       Michael L. Shuler, Cornell University

·       William H. Steier, University of Southern California

·       S.K. Sundaram, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

·       Thomas George Thundat, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

·       Fawwaz T. Ulaby, The University of Michigan

·       Usha Varshney, National Science Foundation

·       Zhong Lin Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology

·       Richard C. Warder, Jr., University of Memphis

·       Charles Wyman, University of California, Riverside

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix E

 

2007 Annual Meeting Symposia and Seminars of Interest to Engineers

 

1. Symposia and Seminars Sponsored by the Engineering Section

Friday February 16:

8:30am - 11:30am

180-Minute Symposium. 180-100. Science, Society, and Shared Cyberinfrastructure: Discovery on the Grid
Continental Ballroom 2

 

8:30am - 10:00am

90-Minute Symposium. 90-54. Teaching Sustainable Engineering
Parc Ballroom 3

 

9:30am - 12:00pm

Section Business Meetings. 20-11. Engineering Section Business Meeting
Union Square 14

 

10:30am - 12:00pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-195. Global Clean Water Challenge: Where Are the Civil Engineers When We Need Them?
Continental Ballroom 3

 

1:45pm -  4:45pm

180-Minute Symposium. 180-25. Renewable Energy from Biomass: Technology, Policy, and Sustainability
Imperial Ballroom B

Saturday February 17:

8:00am - 11:00am

Seminar. 180-26. Robotics Seminar Part I: Robots -- Our Future's Sustainable Partner
Da Vinci Ballroom

 

2:00pm -  5:00pm

Seminar. 180-117. Robotics Seminar Part II: Robots -- The Next 10 Years
Da Vinci Ballroom

 

2:00pm -  3:30pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-193. The Drive for Energy Security: Impacts on U.S. Security
Parc Ballroom 1

 

3:45pm -  5:15pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-134. Identifying Pathways for Underrepresented Students in Science and Engineering
Union Square 23-24

Sunday February 18:

8:30am - 10:00am

90-Minute Symposium. 90-997. The Future of Nuclear Energy
Franciscan D

 

10:30am - 12:00pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-124. From Research to Markets: Advancing the Development and Deployment of Clean Energy
Continental Ballroom 6

 

1:45pm -  4:45pm

180-Minute Symposium. 180-62. Energy or Climate Security: Do We Have To Choose?
Continental Ballroom 6

 

1:45pm -  3:15pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-131. How Will Stem Cell Research Be Sustained?
Continental Ballroom 2

 

1:45pm -  3:15pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-158. Placing the U.S. Cyberinfrastructure in a Global Context
Continental Ballroom 7

Monday February 19:

9:15am - 10:45am

90-Minute Symposium. 90-162. The Future of Renewable Energy
Union Square 17-18


2. Symposia and Seminars of Interest to the Engineering Section

Friday February 16:

1:45pm -  4:45pm

180-Minute Symposium. 180-45. What Is Agrifood Nanotechnology?: Technical, Ethical, Legal, and Social Questions
Continental Ballroom 7

 

3:30pm -  5:00pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-118. Ethical Issues in Nuclear Weapon Programs
Continental Ballroom 8

 

3:30pm -  5:00pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-71. Fifty Years of Space Exploration: Historical Insights into Societal Impacts
Continental Ballroom 1

Saturday February 17:

8:00am - 11:00am

180-Minute Symposium. 180-71. Grand Challenges of Sustainability Science
Continental Ballroom 2

 

8:00am -  9:30am

90-Minute Symposium. 90-104. Domestic Bioenergy: Weaning Ourselves from Foreign Oil Addiction
Parc Ballroom 3

 

9:45am - 11:15am

90-Minute Symposium. 90-129. Graduate School Alliances To Diversify the Science and Engineering Work Force
Union Square 15-16

 

9:45am - 11:15am

90-Minute Symposium. 90-159. Plutonium Reprocessing and Recycling
Parc Ballroom 3

 

9:45am - 11:15am

90-Minute Symposium. 90-80. America's Achilles Heel: Critical Infrastructure Services in Time of Disaster
Parc Ballroom 2

 

2:00pm -  5:00pm

180-Minute Symposium. 180-56. Decision-Making Under Uncertainty: The Challenge of Sustainable Well-Being
Union Square 15-16

 

2:00pm -  3:30pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-185. Coping with a Dirty-Bomb Detonation
Parc Ballroom 2

Sunday February 18:

8:30am - 11:30am

180-Minute Symposium. 180-61. Drylands in Crisis: Science, Technology, and Sustainable Living on Arid Lands
Franciscan A

 

8:30am - 10:00am

90-Minute Symposium. 90-063. Ensuring the Future of Science: Developing Underrepresented Minority Doctorates
Continental Ballroom 9

 

10:30am - 12:00pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-39. Novel Materials and Processes for Medical Prostheses
Franciscan D

 

10:30am - 12:00pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-58. The Future of Nuclear Weapons
Continental Ballroom 8

 

1:45pm -  4:45pm

180-Minute Symposium. 180-59. Diasporas, Technology Transfer, and Development: Migration Gains or Drains?
Continental Ballroom 9

 

1:45pm -  3:15pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-142. Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development: Mobilizing Research and Development for Decision-Making
Big Sur

 

1:45pm -  3:15pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-24. How Should Elementary Mathematics Be Taught?
Franciscan C

 

1:45pm -  3:15pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-33. Mathematics and America's Future: A Call to Action
Union Square 17-18

Monday February 19:

9:15am - 10:45am

90-Minute Symposium. 90-151. New Models for Materials Use, Biocomplexity, and Sustainability
Parc Ballroom 2

 

9:15am - 10:45am

90-Minute Symposium. 90-153. New Approaches to the Development of the U.S. Computing Work Force
Continental Ballroom 9

 

11:00am - 12:30pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-08. Blockbuster Science: Math and Science Behind Movies and Entertainment
Parc Ballroom 2

 

11:00am - 12:30pm

90-Minute Symposium. 90-64. The Small and Big of It: Nanotechnology in the Developing World
Continental Ballroom 1