Engineering Globalization Workshop:
Call for Papers & Presentations
May 16-18, 2012, Arlington, VA
Workshop Motivation and Schedule:
Engineering and R&D is at the heart of modern innovation eco-systems, and its globalization is
happening very rapidly and across a number of industries. As a result of this speed, our state of
knowledge, academic and industry practice alike, is limited and fragmented.
We have limited knowledge about how companies: protect intellectual property when they globalize the
technical function of the firm; manage global technical integration of resources; and, acquire and
maintain complementary assets to ensure appropriation of benefits from these investments in technical
projects. We also know little about the criteria (e.g., labor costs, tax incentives, access to markets,
engineering talent, etc.) being used by businesses when choosing a specific geography to place specific
engineering tasks. And we know little about the impact of these new overseas facilities on their U.S.
operations, and more broadly on the U.S. engineering enterprise, including its workforce and
educational system.
We propose to begin the process of bridging some of these gaps with a two-day workshop exploring the
current state of engineering globalization, and defining a clear set of research agendas that can fill those
knowledge gaps.
The workshop will be held in Arlington, Virginia, one block from NSF headquarters, May 16, 2012
(evening reception) May 17 (One day of plenary sessions), and May 18 (half-day breakout sessions and
plenary session to report results).
Workshop Goals:
The workshop aims to calibrate the research agenda for globalization of engineering and R&D and
generate research questions with high potential impact.
The first day of talks, May 17th, will consist of keynotes and panels by prominent speakers describing
what we know and don't know about engineering globalization. The second, half-day on May 18th, will
be break-out sessions focused on specific topics where participants will identify the research agenda for
their topic.
Workshop Participants:
Presenters and selected participants will come from the industry, academia, government, and the
consulting sectors.
Workshop Call:
We are soliciting proposed presentations (extended abstracts or full papers) from interested academics,
industry practitioners, consultants, and government officials. We expect topics to run the gamut of
managerial and policy issues including, but not limited to:
Cross border management of engineering resources;
Engineering site selection;
Intellectual property rights and management;
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R&D management;
Engineering education globalization
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International student flows
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University globalization
Export control
Supply chain management and logistics;
Government incentives and investments;
Start-ups and entrepreneurship; and,
Engineering & production co-location.
Please submit a 400 word summary of your proposed presentation or a full paper if appropriate. This
can be work that has been published, in-progress, or something that you propose to do.
Funding Support
Travel support will be provided to participants whose proposals have been accepted.
Timeline and details:
Proposals should be emailed to rhira@mail.rit.edu on or before February 29, 2012
Scientific/Industry Review Committee
John E. Ettlie, Ph.D., RIT; Don Siegel, Ph.D., SUNY Albany; Ron Hira, Ph.D., P.E., RIT; Rafiq Dossani,
Stanford University; and, Joan Penner-Hahn, Ph.D., University of Michigan.
Funding for this workshop has been provided by the National Science Foundation under Award No. ECCS‐1129185
Q:CPC/2012/2012 meetings/Globalization Workshop – Call for Papers