The 2013 Congress Will Feature Many Special Events for Attendees

The ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, the mechanical engineering community's premiere technical conference, kicks off this Friday in San Diego, Calif. In addition to the more than 600 technical sessions being offered, there are a variety of special events that attendees won't want to miss while they're at the weeklong meeting.

One of the key events taking place at Congress, which will be held Nov. 15-21 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, is the inaugural Advanced Manufacturing Impact Forum on Monday, Nov. 18. The forum begins at 8:00 a.m. with the Opening Keynote session "Advanced Manufacturing: Engaging the Nation and the World to Achieve Economic Prosperity."

Featuring panelists Pradeep Khosla of the University of California, San Diego, Michael Molnar from the National Institute of Standards & Technology, Greg Morris of GE Aviation, and Richard Morris from BMW Manufacturing, the keynote session will focus on the technological, educational and policy advances that will be necessary to address future manufacturing needs and opportunities in the United States, as well as the world. The discussion, which will be moderated by ASME Executive Director Thomas Loughlin, will also address opportunities in manufacturing and barriers that must be overcome to advance manufacturing in a sustainable and strategic fashion. The Opening Keynote session will be held in the Manchester Ballroom on the first floor of the hotel.

The rest of the one-day Advanced Manufacturing Impact Forum will feature still more experts from government, industry and academia discussing advanced technology and policy; new opportunities in advanced manufacturing generated by public and private partnerships; the status of the U.S. government initiatives through such organizations as the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute and the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation; and implications for the future of standards creation. The Forum will conclude with a one-hour Town Hall open-dialogue session featuring Forum speakers and audience feedback, followed by a networking reception sponsored by the ASME Manufacturing Engineering Division.

Three Congress Wide Plenary Sessions will take place over the next three days. The first of these plenaries, on Nov. 19 from 8:00 a.m.-9:15 a.m., will be "Making Things Matters: The Critical Role of Production Ecosystems to an Innovation Economy." During this session, Martin A. Schmidt, associate provost and professor of electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will explore the current state of manufacturing, particularly in the United States, and discuss policy and R&D issues that will be important in the future of manufacturing. This session will be held in the Manchester Ballroom on the first floor.

On Nov. 20, also from 8:00 a.m.-9:15 a.m., Hod Lipson, professor of engineering at Cornell University, will present the second Congress-wide plenary, "The Future of 3D Printing: The Promise and Peril of a Machine That Can Make (Almost) Anything." The session, also in the Manchester Ballroom, will explore the evolution of additive manufacturing technologies' past, present and future as a series of milestone in humans' increasing control over physical matter.

The Exposition at this year's Congress will showcase the latest technology that engineering has to offer.

The third plenary, "Exploring Mars with Curiosity," will be given by Louise Jandura from noon-12:45 p.m. on Nov. 21. Jandura is a mechanical engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and chief engineer for the Mars Rover Curiosity's Sampling System unit. Her discussion, to be held in the Elizabeth Ballroom on the second floor, will describe some of the challenges of robotic exploration on Mars and some of the highlights from Curiosity's more than a year on the planet, with a particular focus on sampling.

A continental breakfast will be served from 7:30 a.m.-8:00 a.m. before the Nov. 19 and 20 plenaries. Lunch will be offered from 11:15 a.m.-noon before the Nov. 21 plenary session.

Another highlight of the Congress each year is the Honors Assembly. This year, 10 exceptional leaders of the engineering profession will be recognized at the ceremony. Five of these luminaries will receive the highest level of membership in the Society, ASME Honorary Membership: Ted Belytschko, John Reid Howell, Said Jahanmir, Sadik Kakac, and Arun Majumdar.

Also receiving awards at the Honors Assembly are Sia Nemat-Nasser, who will receive the ASME Medal; Sidney A. Bernsen, who will receive the Melvin R. Green Codes & Standards Medal; G. Wayne Clough, who will accept the Ralph Coats Roe Medal; Ann Dowling, winner of this year's Kate Gleason Award; and Aníbal L. Taboas, recipient of the 2013 Dixy Lee Ray Award. The Honors Assembly, to be held from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Ballroom, is a free event and open to all Congress attendees. An Honors Reception, also open to all attendees, will precede the ceremony at 5:00 p.m.

Other special events at the Congress will include:

• The Old Guard Oral Presentation Competition Finals, on Nov. 16, from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., in the Randle D room on the fourth floor;
• The ASME History and Heritage Engineer-Historian Award Reception (honoring award winner Dr. Gail Marcus), Nov. 16, 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., in the Americas Cup D room on the fourth floor;
• The Student Design Competition, Nov. 17, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., in the Randle A, B and C rooms on the fourth floor;
• The Members and Students Luncheon, Nov. 17, noon-1:30 p.m., in the Elizabeth F and G rooms on the second floor;
• First Time Attendee Orientation, Nov. 17, 2:00-3:00 p.m., in the Randall E room on the fourth floor;
• The Exhibit Hall Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting and Opening Reception, Nov. 17, 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m., in the Douglas Pavilion on the first floor;
• The Social Meet-Up for Early Career Engineers (featuring Mini Talks), Nov. 17, 8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m., in the Elizabeth H room on the second floor;
• The Robert Henry Thurston Lecture, 10:00 a.m.-noon, in the Elizabeth H room on the second floor;
• The President's Luncheon, Nov. 18, noon-1:30 p.m., in the Elizabeth F and G rooms on the second floor;
• The National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institution Panel Session, Nov. 19, 10:30 a.m.-noon, in the Elizabeth C room on the second floor;
• The Rayleigh Lecture, Nov. 19, 3:00 p.m.-4:45 pm., in the Madeleine D room on the third floor;
• The Strategy Workshop for Women: Get Your Career Accomplishments Recognized, Nov. 19, 3:30-5:00 p.m., in the Elizabeth G room on the second floor;
• The Koiter Lecture, Nov. 19, 5:00 p.m.-6:45 p.m., in the Elizabeth H room on the second floor;
• The Advanced Energy Systems Division Reception and Frank Kreith Award Lecture, Nov. 19, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., in the Molly A room on the second floor; and
• The Materials Division Lectures and Reception, Nov. 20, 2:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., in the Cunningham A,B and C rooms on the fourth floor.

For more details on these activities, and to see what else is being offered at the 2013 ASME International Congress and Exposition, visit http://www.asmeconferences.org/Congress2013.