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The EcoDesign '99 organizing committee is pleased to announce EcoDesign
'99, the First International Symposium on Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse
Manufacturing, to be held on February 1-3, 1999 in Tokyo, Japan. The ever-growing demand
for environmental consciousness has necessitated the establishment of closed-loop life
cycles for products. This has led to the new manufacturing concept of inverse
manufacturing which integrates indispensable elements for developing closed-loop product
life cycles (especially product re-manufacturing and component reuse), such as life cycle
design (product design and process design), maintenance methodologies, advanced reuse and
recycling technologies, enterprise and strategies, and public policies.
The technical program of EcoDesign '99 comprises 7 plenary speeches, 13 keynote
addresses, and 23 invited speeches along with approximately 200 contributing papers
(including 18 posters) from 21 countries around the world, which are based upon three
pillars of categories as follows;
 | Category A: Design and Life Cycle Management
 | This covers various topics of Environmentally Conscious Design (ECD) from basic theories
to industrial case studies including ECD Methods and Tools, Decision Support Systems for
Product Life Cycle, Environmental Information Sharing, ECD Assessment (Methods and Tools),
Industrial Design for Environmentally Conscious Products, Design for X, Life Cycle
Management, and Case Studies of ECD. It consists of 21 sessions including 80 oral
presentations, 4 keynote presentations made by world leading researchers in this domain.
You can expect to learn state-of-the-art of this domain by attending the Category A. |
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| Category B: Social Systems, Business, and Practices
| This track addresses a variety of societal and business issues of environmental
conscious design and inverse manufacturing. It begins with fundamental issues regarding
how economy of future society should be based on environmental conscious design and
manufacturing, followed by papers dealing with more technological issues. In the effort to
achieve a sustainable society, certainly consumers play a crucial role, which is another
topic of this track. We also focus on various environment management systems including
eco-labeling and life cycle assessment (LCA). We always need to bear in mind that
environmental studies should result in practical applications. To exchange ideas and
experiences of such practical applications, we are going to hear presentations on
environment conscious business practices. The track will be concluded by 5 keynote
lectures that are representative views of Japanese business leaders, academia, and
government. |
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| Category C: Process Technologies and Elemental Technologies
| Ecological production and recycling of the products can be supported by a variety of
elemental technologies. This category is focussing on the 6 basic ecological technologies.
Selecting "Eco-materials" is the starting point that should be first considered
in EcoDesign. This symposium involves various new materials such as polymers, metals
ceramics and composites. "Cleaner and energy saving process technology" is
required for the Eco-production. "Maintenance" is needed in keeping ecological
service. At the end of the lifetime of products, the ability of "Disassembly and
Recycling/Waste Disposal" becomes the keys. We should think of these factors in the
step of designing of products. This category also is focussing on "Lead-free Micro
Soldering", which has been recognized as the problem after eliminating fluorocarbon.
This will bring us the revolution in ecological electronics packaging. Throughout the
discussion of these subjects on the elemental technologies and the practical cases, we
will accomplish new approaches to the environmentally conscious life cycles for industrial
products. |
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As another important feature, tutorials are scheduled on the first day of the
symposium, inviting three international lecturers to provide participants with their
enlightening ideas. Additional interesting events are exhibition held by a variety of
companies displaying their unique products and technologies, and, specially arranged for
overseas participants, technical tour which introduces them to the recycling facilities of
two Japanese firms.
Abundant in topics and nationalities of the speakers, EcoDesign '99 will produce a
stimulating and productive moment for all participants. We welcome you to the symposium
and hope you find this opportunity useful.
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Tadatomo Suga, Technical Committee Chair
Prof. Dr., The University of Tokyo
RCAST ( Research Center for Advanced Science & Technology ) |
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