Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute on Manufacturing Innovation through Sustainable Design; Barranquilla, Colombia, July 2013

This Pan-American Advanced Studies Institutes (PASI) award, jointly supported by the NSF and the Department of Energy (DOE), will take place July 14-27, 2013 at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia. Organized by Dr. Ratna Babu Chinnam, Professor of the Industrial & Systems Engineering Department at Wayne State University, the institute will focus on novel approaches in sustainable manufacturing and design. The PASI will address the need for fundamental research and holistic training on many different topics related to sustainability, including materials, product design, production processes, supply chain management, and tools for sustainable innovation. The discussion will be integrated in a multidisciplinary fashion to nurture exploration of future directions for new research collaborations and industrial applications.

The institute is expected to enhance the infrastructure for research and education on the PASI topics through collaborations developed before, during, and beyond the activity, and by sharing resources. Additionally, it will facilitate future relationships between international participants, while promoting student exchanges in the Americas and an increase in the number of visiting scholars from other countries at participating universities. The nature of the PASI will also facilitate the participation of underrepresented groups in engineering. Results from the PASI will be disseminated through an institute website and journal publications.