AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS Teleconference Minutes Mechanisms Committee April 1, 1996 Members Present: J. Angeles G. Lovell G. Wiens T. Chase M. McCarthy R. Williams G. Fichter G. Pennock K. Kazerounian L. Tsai Guest: H. Lipkin CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairman McCarthy at 7:30 p.m. EST. OLD BUSINESS ***1996 Design Engineering Technical Conferences*** 1. Paper Review Process The paper review process has been completed. G. Fichter has forwarded the completed database of mechanisms papers to M. McCarthy. ASME has had some difficulties in handling the papers in digital form. It was noted that the entire publications group of ASME share a single modem and that the group has hired someone from the outside who gets the files over the Internet and then sends diskettes to ASME. In addition, Janet Winerib, who set up most of the procedures, has quit and her replacement will not be there until April 15 (Cynthia Clark has stepped in for the interim). About 50 author kits have yet to be sent out. McCarthy is waiting to receive 28 more papers from CIE and there are about 20 author kits for mechanisms papers that will be mailed shortly.R. Williams said that it was more work than expected to remove reviewers' names from the email review form. L. Tsai said it would be better if we had a form on the Web. At present, there is a total of 483 papers for the conference. 2. New Registration Procedure ASME now allows those who plan to attend the conference to pre-register without payment (up until 7/17); payment can be made at the conference. It is hoped that
this method will result in a more accurate attendance estimate to facilitate conference planning. 3. CD-ROM Proceedings M. McCarthy said that even though a number of authors have submitted color photos, he is anticipating that only one CD-ROM disc will be necessary for the proceedings. McCarthy mentioned that there are many logistics issues to contend with should the proceedings require more than one disc. As a precautionary measure, T. Chase recommended that file sizes be checked and that any author who has submitted an exceedingly large file be asked to pare it down. 4. Abstract book M. McCarthy said that the committee has never asked for extended abstracts and he is hoping that abstract book is successful. The page size in the book will be 7x10. G. Wiens said IEEE has been using CD-ROM proceedings with abstract books and believes IEEE has been successful with this format. McCarthy said he needs some help putting the extended abstracts on the Web. No one volunteered during the teleconference. McCarthy noted that Bahram Ravani is also planning to use CD-ROM proceedings with an abstract book for the '97 DED Conference. 5. Tutorials S. Derby is coordinating the tutorials. About ten sign-ups will be required as a minimum number for each tutorial. 6. Local Site Arrangements M. McCarthy reported that that Carolyn Hunt has replaced Catherine Bechtel is as site coordinator and that the local site setup and planning are still going smoothly. 7. Budget M. McCarthy reviewed the budget for the conference. The budgeted attendance is 480 and the total budget is $204K, of which $104K is allocated to ASME Meeting Services and Publications (preparation of the CD-ROM and the abstract book will cost $60K). The full attendance fee for the conference will be $430. The conference fee covers the CD-ROM proceedings and the abstract book. McCarthy emphasized that costs are being reduced substantially by including the proceedings in the full registration package. 8. Papers Distribution The papers distribution among the conferences is as follows: Conference
Papers Sessions
Mechanisms 151 Design Automation 109 Engineering Info. Management 13 Flexible Assembly 13
38 27 4 4
Computers-in-Engineering
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89
Design Theory and Methodology 41 Design for Manufacturing
66
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9. M. McCarthy mentioned that the probable reasons that the papers count for Mechanisms is lower than previous conferences are that a large number of mechanisms papers were submitted to the 50th anniversary conference in Boston (forty papers were submitted there) and the early submission date for the upcomingconference. 10. Receptions and Events M. McCarthy is planning on having an early bird reception for Saturday night and is also considering a closing reception. There will be an opening reception on Sunday night. T. Chase mentioned that about 300 attended the Sunday opening reception at the '94 conference and McCarthy is anticipating about the same number. There will be a Mexican-style buffet dinner on Monday night, which will cost $15 for those who have pre-registered and $25 otherwise. 11. Student Mechanisms Competition The status for this event is uncertain. M. McCarthy will check with J. Beard, who is the chair of the Mechanisms in Education Subcommittee. 12. K. Exhibitions M. McCarthy described the exhibition space as being in an L-shaped hallway at the short side of the L, which overlooks the lobby area. There is room for 10-12 tables. McCarthy said that although the building is locked at night, it does have glass front doors. So, unless arrangements are made for a night security guard, which McCarthy said is possible, expensive equipment should not be left out in the open at night. T. Chase, the exhibits coordinator, said that thus far only one exhibitor has asked about security. There should be network connections available. McCarthy said he is hoping some universities will participate in the exhibits. Exhibit space cost is $110/table and one full conference registration. 13. Keynote and Luncheon SpeakersM. McCarthy solicited suggestions from teleconference participants on speakers for the Mechanisms Conference Keynote Session and Mechanisms Conference Luncheon. McCarthy reviewed the kinds of talks that are desired: the keynote talk (which will be held in the morning) should be technically oriented and pertinent to the mechanisms community and the luncheon talk should be more general and entertainment oriented. McCarthy said that he is considering Delbert Tesar of the University of Texas at Austin, who has offered to give a talk on the Department of Energy's Contaminant Analysis and Automation (CAA) program. McCarthy said that he would poll Mechanism Committee members by email on appropriate keynote session speakers and that the speaker needs to be selected within the next two weeks. There are as yet no candidates for the luncheon speaker. Pixar, JPL, and Disney Land were suggested as potential sources for a speaker.
14. ***Budget Analysis for '96 and '97 Conferences*** McCarthy proposed that a close review ASME Meeting Services and Publications expenditures be started after the `96 conference. McCarthy said that by closely analyzing ASME's expenditures for the `96 conference and also for the '97 conference, the Mechanisms Committee can help ASME streamline their operations for future conferences (especially with regard to the new technologies being used for publications). McCarthy suggested a meeting of the Subcommittee on Conference Arrangements be held shortly after the '96 conference to begin the review process (this subcommittee comprises McCarthy, H. Lipkin, and T. Chase). The primary objectives of the subcommittee are to simplify the preparations for and to improve the quality of future conferences. ***Awards*** 1. Mechanisms Conference Awards L. Tsai reported that The Freudenstein Young Investigators Award will be funded by General Motors and he recommended that this award be renamed to The Freudenstein/General Motors Young Investigators Award. Tsai said that he has received a letter from GM indicating management approval for a $1000 contribution for the `96 conference and subsequent conferences. Tsai said it is likely that the GM R&D center department head will be presenting the award for the upcoming conference. There was some discussion among teleconference participants on how to determine whether an author is an assistant professor, since there is no straightforward means of doing so (note that a young investigator is defined as an assistant professor or an equivalent position in industry). Unfortunately, submitted papers do not have position titles for authors. It was decided that subcommittee chairs must somehow ascertain that their nominees for the award are in fact assistant professors. It was also decided that a better method must be used in the future (e.g., position titles should be requested for submitted papers in the call for papers and be put on review forms). Funding sources for the Mechanism Committee Best Paper Award for the '96 conference have not been established. Typically, $500-1000 is given for this award. T. Chase mentioned that Art Erdmann solicited several local donations for this award for the conference in 1994. Tsai asked if royalty money that was to be used for the Freudenstein Award could now be used for the Best Paper Award. T. Chase referred Tsai to Erdmann. H. Lipkin suggested that to most authors, the award is much more important than the money and there was general agreement among teleconference participants. It was decided that even if no funding sources can be found, the award should still be given. Tsai believes that Mechanical Dynamics, Inc. are still sponsoring their award, The MDI Software Award. He said that he will contact MDI to confirm this. Tsai requested that each subcommittee chair submit two nominations for each of the three awards 2. Proposed Award for Freudenstein L. Tsai said ASME has concerns that the Honorary Fellow Award that
Freudenstein received two years ago might honor the same achievements as the Mechanisms Committee proposed award. ASME is still considering the matter. 3. Coordination of Awards for the '96 Conference Tom Chase mentioned that it is important that Ken Waldron be kept informed about all the awards that the Mechanisms Committee and the other participating committees are planning on presenting at the conference. Waldron is the chair of the Design Engineering Division Awards committee. ***1998 Conference*** H. Lipkin reported on the arrangements status for the conference in Atlanta, which will be held September 20-23. Negotiations with the Omni Hotel in downtown Atlanta are complete, though the contract still needs to be signed. Lipkin said that Leslie Friedman, who has since left ASME, left the unsigned contract in somebody's office at ASME and it needs to be tracked down. The hotel is at the CNN center, which is adjacent to the Omni Arena (where the Hawks play) and across from the brand new Olympic Park. Lipkin is planning on 14 parallel sessions and said that there will be a couple of reception suites. There will be no other large groups at the hotel during the conference and the hotel has four large auditoriums/banquet rooms. The room rates will be $135/155 for single/double. M. McCarthy emphasized that it is important to find out early which committees will be participating in the conference and who are the paper review chairs. McCarthy said the conference in Irvine provides a good opportunity for getting this information. Lipkin said he would like to contact the current chairs before the Irvine conference so that they can make their commitments when in Irvine. McCarthy said he would get Lipkin a list of the current committee chairs.
Lipkin commented that the Web site has been very helpful for his planning. McCarthy then said that he would fax Lipkin the final budget for the Irvine conference to further assist him in his planning for the Atlanta conference. ***2000 Conference*** There was some discussion on whether approval has been granted by the Design Engineering Division for the 2000 conference, which will be in College Park, MD and organized by L. Tsai. T. Chase said that it is necessary to fill out a CA-1 form and that he would send Tsai this form. NEW BUSINESS ***2002 Conference*** M. McCarthy mentioned that potential sites and chairs for this conference will be discussed at the conference in Irvine.
***Design Engineering Division Executive Committee Business*** T. Chase reported on pertinent DED Executive Committee business. Ken Waldron is a newly elected member to the Design Engineering Division Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is revising constitution and bylaws and Chase is asking all the committees to update their operating procedures. Chase said that the Mechanisms Committee is in good shape since Gary Kinsel coordinated the updating of our operating procedures through an ad hoc committee four years ago. Chase said, however, that we still need a plan for updates. The Executive Committee is currently discussing having a real time communications link with Korea for the 2000 Conference. ***Next Committee Meeting*** The next meeting will be held at the 1996 Mechanisms Conference in Irvine. ADJOURNMENT M. McCarthy adjourned the teleconference at 9:05 p.m. EST.
Respectfully submitted, Gilbert Lovell, Secretary
