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this pdf is available from the national academies press at http www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13313 making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum isbn 978-0-309-22559-5 44 pages 6x9 paperback 2012 prepared by steve olson for the national academy of engineering of the national academies visit the national academies press online and register for instant access to free pdf downloads of titles from the national academy of sciences national academy of engineering institute of medicine national research council 10 off print titles custom notification of new releases in your field of interest special offers and discounts distribution posting or copying of this pdf is strictly prohibited without written permission of the national academies press unless otherwise indicated all materials in this pdf are copyrighted by the national academy of sciences request reprint permission for this book copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum making things 21st century manufacturing and design summa ry ofaforum prepared by steve olson for the copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum the national academies press 500 fifth street n.w washington dc 20001 notice the subject of this report is a forum titled making things 21st century manufacturing and design held during the 2011 annual meeting of the national academy of engineering opinions finding and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the forum participants and not necessarily the views of the national academy of engineering international standard book number 13 978-0-309-22559-5 international standard book number 10 0-309-22559-0 copies of this report are available from the national academies press 500 fifth street n.w lockbox 285 washington dc 20055 888 624-8373 or 202 334-3313 in the washington metropolitan area online at http www.nap.edu for more information about the national academy of engineering visit the nae home page at www.nae.edu copyright 2012 by the national academies all rights reserved printed in the united states of america copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum 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 ralph j cicerone 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 charles m vest 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 harvey v fineberg 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 ralph j cicerone and dr charles m vest are chair and vice chair respectively of the national research council www.national-academies.org copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum preface m ore than two decades ago just as i was arriving at the massachusetts institute of technology mit a commission of 17 mit scientists and economists released a report that opened with the memorable phrase to live well a nation must produce well 1 is that still true or can the united states remain a preeminent nation while other countries increasingly make the products that once were made in america these questions were at the center of a forum titled making things 21st century manufacturing and design held during the 2011 annual meeting of the national academy of engineering in a wide-ranging and provocative conversation seven leaders of business government and academia explored the many facets of manufacturing and design and outlined the many opportunities and responsibilities posed by manufacturing for the engineering profession craig barrett the former ceo and chairman of intel corporation and a passionate leader in the movement to improve k­12 education in science technology engineering and mathematics stem described what it will take for america to remain a manufacturing leader in the 21st century rodney brooks former head of the computer science and artificial intelligence laboratory at mit and founder-chairman of heartland robotics painted a compelling picture of low-technology products being manufactured by high-technology robots 1 michael l dertouzos richard k lester robert m solow and the mit commission 1989 made in america regaining the productive edge cambridge mass the mit press v copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum vi preface nae president charles m vest presenting opening remarks larry burns former vice president for research and development and strategic planning of general motors corporation drew on his experiences at gm positive and negative to distill five essential lessons for the next generation of engineers ursula burns chairman and ceo of xerox corporation issued a forceful challenge to be impatient with the status quo in protecting america s historical strengths regina dugan the director of the defense advanced research projects agency darpa warned that weaknesses in u.s manufacturing could threaten national security to protect we must produce brett giroir vice chancellor for strategic initiatives at texas a&m and ceo of the national biosecurity foundation described a particular aspect of protection the manufacturing of vaccines and treatments to guard against pandemics and bioterrorism finally david kelley founder and chairman of ideo highlighted the importance of design thinking along with individual and institutional confidence to creativity innovation and success ali velshi cnn s chief business correspondent served as a superb moderator for the forum the partnership between the nae and ali benefits us both the nae can take advantage of ali s ability to ask copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum preface vii probing questions and lead engaging conversations and ali has the opportunity to spend time with people who have thought deeply about engineering as ali said the media need to find heroic stories about engineering they exist but we have to be better at putting them together as the nation heads into a presidential election year manufacturing probably will not be a prominent issue in debates or on television yet manufacturing made america strong and will do much to shape its future as we prepare to make decisions about the policies of this nation we would all benefit by spending more time talking and thinking about manufacturing charles m vest president national academy of engineering copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum contents i the many facets of engineering prerequisites for success 1 a high-tech approach to low-tech products 3 five lessons for the next generation 5 fostering impatience with the status quo 9 produce to protect 11 produce to live 13 creativity confidence and innovation 15 1 ii from talk to action job creation 17 the role of government 19 the benefits of diversity 21 the importance of k­12 education 22 the global effects of local action 24 appendixes a b forum agenda biographical information 17 25 27 ix copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum i the many facets of manufacturing d uring the first half of the forum each of the seven panelists identified what he or she saw as the most important issues in manufacturing some spoke broadly about manufacturing while others examined specific topics but all pointed to the importance of manufacturing and to the need to retain a strong manufacturing base in the united states prerequisites for success for manufacturing to take place in the united states three critical conditions must be met said craig barrett the former chairman and ceo of intel corporation first the individuals involved in manufacturing must add value to the process for modern manufacturing adding value requires a solid educational background if you want an effective manufacturing design and engineering workforce you have to have an effective education system said barrett yet the k­12 education system in the united states is mediocre according to barrett we re failing in that fundamental aspect if we re going to talk about anything it should be the implementation of improvement in the education system second manufacturing needs to be associated with activities that add value to the process for example intellectual property and fastchanging products both add value to manufacturing products that are not protected by intellectual property or do not change over time are a target for the rest of the world many of the technologies associated with the grand challenges see box 1 identified by the national academy of engineering are undergoing rapid change barrett noted and are 1 copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum 2 making things box 1 the grand challenges for engineering in 2008 a national academy of engineering committee released a list of 14 engineering challenges that if met could help people and the planet thrive many of these challenges have manufacturing components and could lie at the core of vigorous u.s industries in the future 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 make solar energy economical provide energy from fusion develop carbon sequestration methods manage the nitrogen cycle provide access to clean water restore and improve urban infrastructure advance health informatics engineer better medicines reverse-engineer the brain prevent nuclear terror secure cyberspace enhance virtual reality advance personalized learning engineer the tools of scientific discovery for more information see http www.engineeringchallenges.org likely areas for the united states to lead in design and manufacturing third the right government policies need to be in place immigration policy is undermining manufacturing said barrett by making it more difficult for well-trained scientists and engineers to work in the united states so is corporate tax policy which is discouraging the construction of manufacturing facilities in the united states we need a lot more than talk about these and other issues said barrett we need action the day after the forum barrett was traveling to portland oregon where intel has about 15,000 employees involved in design and manufacturing their average salary is three times the average for other if you want an effective manufacturing design and engineering workforce you have to have an effective education system craig barrett copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum the many facets of manufacturing 3 craig r barrett former ceo and chairman of intel corporation oregon workers if you are involved in the right areas manufacturing and design are alive and well in the united states but these three issues need to be addressed for manufacturing to thrive a high-tech approach to low-tech products engineers are enamored of high technology said rodney brooks the founder chairman and cto of heartland robotics and mit professor emeritus but this fascination with the fastest and most advanced technologies should not cause them to overlook the potential inherent in low-technology products information technology has had a tremendous run over the past half century the continual decrease in price and increase in processing power have transformed computers from gigantic machines that ordinary people could not touch to devices that people put in their pockets and briefcases computers also have transformed many jobs making them much more productive for example computer-enabled increases in the productivity of office workers have been cited as the main driver of the economic boom of the 1990s manufacturing in the united states still adds $2 trillion of value to products every year about the same amount of value as is produced by manufacturing in europe and in china and twice the value produced in japan america has maintained this level of added value by moving continually toward the manufacturing of high-value products the manufacturing of low-value products which brooks called walmart-class copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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making things 21st century manufacturing and design summary of a forum 4 making things rodney a brooks panasonic professor of robotics emeritus massachusetts institute of technology manufacturing the fry pans the stuff that is technologically simple generally occurs in other countries only in particular areas such as cosmetics where fashion changes so fast that long supply chains are too slow is low-value-added manufacturing done in the united states the united states loses something by not manufacturing ordinary things in this country much valuable innovation in products and processes occurs in the everyday effort to improve manufacturing we lose the place where innovation happens said brooks information technology now has the potential to change the way people build ordinary low-tech products in particular robotics can democratize low-end manufacturing according to brooks in most factories today robots are only cost effective with long-run high-value goods because they are expensive and complex to build but when if you [manufacture lowrobotics evolves to the point where technology products close personal computers are today ordito where they are sold they nary factory workers will be able become fast moving and to program them to do short proyou get a lot more innovation duction runs then all products happening here in the united whether high tech or low tech can states rodney brooks have short supply chains and quick response times if you [manufac copyright © national academy of sciences all rights reserved.

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