 |
| [two birds using satellite to find food*] |
In 1880, Thomas Edison took out his patent for his lightbulb, which
engineers (probably) found exciting. In 1882, he brought electricity to New
York city, which impacted everybody (at least in New York). The first event
would only have been a curiosity without the second but the second event was
only relevant because of the first. When working together, science and industry
change people’s lives then and now. Last week, I had the pleasure of attending
the Academy-Industry Conference at the Braude School of Engineering in Karmiel
in northern Israel. This conference brought out the advantages of close
cooperation between the two sectors and showed its benefits not only in
industry but in processes directly impacting the general public. The relation
between ivory tower and company headquarters is clearly symbiotic.
The number of parties interested in cooperation between the two worlds
was striking. On the one hand, the Braude College of Engineering, through its
student placement, sponsorship of the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing
and student projects, places great importance on linking student activity to actual
situations in the field. The Israel government Innovation Authority and Chief
Scientist Office provide financial support for relevant activities, including
implementation of new technology. On the other hand, a significant percentage
of the attendees were from industry, indicating practical interest in collaboration.
The Zoom presentations from the United States and Singapore show that this
model is widespread and successful. Objectively, the number of projects
involving implementation of Industry 4.0 technology in established factories
and the presentations documenting their success demonstrated that is the
academy-industry connection is alive and well.
Many of the developments were specific to the industrial setting. For
example, Prof. Dr. ir. Joost R. Deflou from KU Leuven, Belgium, provided a
detailed description of the current process of waste metal recycling and ideas to improve it so as to significantly reduce both processing and energy costs as
well as increase actual reuse. Eric Wespi from Boston Science noted the
progress and challenges involved in using automated visual means to conduct the
final quality check. Several beneficiaries of the implementation of smart
production technology emphasized the importance of unified start-to-finish data
access to management to minimize resource waste and rejected products. All of
the improvements help factories of all sizes not only to survive but thrive in
an increasingly competitive and dynamic market.
The conference also highlighted developments that
will directly change people’s life. Prof. Paulo Bartolo discussed 3D
bioprinting and mentioned the amazing possibility of directly “printing” skin
on a person during surgery. Ms. Hagit Snir-Salinger discussed ongoing efforts
to collect, sort, recycle and reuse the plastic agricultural waste, including
sheets and pipes, collecting on the edge of fields in Israel and elsewhere. Mr.
Motty Arnon discussed progress in creating AI based diagnoses systems,
including for cancer, that would service populations located far from advanced
medical facilities. These applications may soon directly improve the lives of
millions.
Technology changes lives as the cartoon above demonstrate. By
integrating the intellectual resources of academic institutions and the
practical needs of industry, “miracles” no less amazing than electricity can
occur. The conference was eye-opening and raised hope for a better future.
* Picture captions allow the blind to fully access the Internet.
Picture credit: Cartoon shared in Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment