The creation of continuous, smoothly functioning technology development “pipelines” for transitioning emerging Micro and Nano Technology (MNT) concepts to system-level applications is the aim of the upcoming CANEUS 2006 Conference at the Centre de Congrés, in Toulouse, France, August 27-Sept. 1, 2006. Toulouse is located in France’s aerospace valley and is home to the French Airbus Co. The conference includes four pre-conference short courses, 23 conference technical sessions, seven process workshops covering seven pilot projects, three poster sessions, and relevant technical exhibits (see the table). CANEUS is an acronym for a technology organization of Canada-Europe-USA-Asia.
A “flow-down” structure has been adopted for the five-day conference, as was done for the previous CANEUS 2004 conference in Monterey, Calif. (see Figure 1) . The first three days (Monday through Wednesday) contain 23 technical sessions addressing key issues involved in three broad technology areas (day 1), technology applications (day 2), and programmatic investments as well as a pilot project overview (day 3). A more detailed web link to the technical sessions, including paper titles, abstracts, and authors, is available at the end of this story.
Unlike many other technical conferences, this conference focuses its sights specifically on overcoming the many odds facing the successful transition of MNT concepts. These obstacles have been responsible for the premature demise of many laboratory-proven technologies. The conference shows how such odds can be overcome with successful international aerospace applications and is one of the leading international forums devoted to emerging MNT concepts. The concepts-to-systems approach is shown in Figure 2.
Each speaker at the 2006 conference is essentially a leader in the field, describing his or her organization's work in the context of the broader global picture. The conference sessions provide the background material for discussions leading to informed decisions by participants at the subsequent workshops sessions. The two-day project workshops—the high point of the conference—will use a step-by-step approach to first identify candidate MNT concepts and ultimately formulate the pilot projects, all while focusing on fostering international partnerships that bring together complementary core competencies.
CANEUS 2006 has succeeded in uniting all the primary stakeholders for MNT development—inventors, system-developers, end-users, and funding communities—under one roof. An impressive list of invited speakers and attendees includes world-renowned scientists, engineers, program managers, investors, and policy-makers from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia. Each CANEUS 2006 conference session addresses a particular key aspect of the MNT concepts-to-systems development process.
Among the distinguished list of international experts invited to present keynote and plenary addresses are:
• The honorable Ron Saga, assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force
• Arthur Carty, the National Science Advisor to Canada’s Prime Minister
• James Murday, Chief Scientist at the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research
• Mihail (Mike) C. Roco, Senior Advisor on Nanotechnology at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Daniel Deviller, Chief Technology Officer of the Netherland’s EADS (European Defence and Aeronautic and Defence Space) Co.
• Richard Williams, Chief Medical Officer at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• Jean Thermes of the French Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
• John Jacques Dordain, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA)
• Antoine Bouvier, CEO of the European Astrium Space Co.
• Robert Laine, CTO of EADS-Space
• Alain Charmeau, CEO of EADS-ST
• Karou Mimaya, Vice President at Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
• Alain Garcia, CTO of Airbus
• Doug Cook, Associate Administrator at NASA
• John Miller, Director of the U.S. Army’s Laboratory
CANEUS 2006 is organized by representatives from EADS, CANEUS, the European Community, Airbus, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the French Centre National de Recherche Technologique (CNRT), and NASA.
For registration and more details on the CANEUS 2006 Conference, please refer to information found at the following links:
Click here for conference homepage.