Value Creation through Sustainable Manufacturing; September 24 and 25, 2015; Lexington, KY

‘Value Creation through Sustainable Manufacturing’ will be theme for the 5th International Forum on Sustainable Manufacturing (IFSM) organized by the Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing (ISM) will be held 24-25 September 2015 on the campus of the University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky. Sustainable manufacturing, with its emphasis on increasing sustainability performance in the product, process and systems domains, is now recognized as an enabler for increasing competitiveness through innovation. However, to make the business case for sustainable manufacturing, there is a need to identify and mobilize opportunities for value creation through sustainable manufacturing from economic as well as environmental and societal perspectives. The 5th IFSM will focus on this theme and bring together industry practitioners and academic researchers to discuss opportunities and challenges to enable value creation through sustainable manufacturing. This event is aligned with the International Congress on Sustainability Science and Engineering (ICOSSE) series and will serve as a feeder event for the next ICOSSE in the area of sustainable manufacturing. This forum will feature six invited speakers, twelve tenure-track faculty presenting their work in the ‘Emerging Researcher Showcase’ and a panel discussion. In addition, a poster session will be held to highlight research achievements in sustainable manufacturing by students and young faculty. Financial support is requested from the National Science Foundation to support expenses for travel and registration for students, young faculty and invited speakers. Funding requested through this proposal will be used to provide travel support to U.S. based invited speakers, particularly the tenure-track Assistant Professors conducting research in related areas as well as selected graduate students to attend the 5th IFSM.