Jacqueline A. Isaacs,
Professor
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Research
Currently, I work with the Center
for High-rate Nanomanufacturing (CHN)
and lead the research thrust on societal implications of nanotechnology.
CHN is an NSF funded Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC), a
collaborative effort among several university partners (Northeastern
University, the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, the University of New
Hampshire, and Michigan State University) and the Boston Museum of Science. The
CHN was awarded one of two team Aspiration Awards at NU in 2005. Our collaborations on
societal implications have led to the formation of the Nanotechnology and
Society Research Group (NSRG), which works to
address the impact and ramifications of nanomanufacturing technology. As
the NU Education Coordinator for the CHN, I help to organize educational
opportunities for students at various levels of education. Our Center includes
summer research programs for teachers (RETs)
and for undergraduates (REUs).
The Museum of Science in Boston is partnered with CHN to teach K-12 students
about nanomanufacturing. The Boston MOS has a continuing partnership with
the Harvard NSEC, for which many learning modules
on nanomaterials have been created, and MOS has been selected to
lead the Nanoscale Informal Science and Engineering (NISE) Network - to engage
the public in issues related to nanotechnology .
My research pursuits at Northeastern University, funded initially by a National
Science Foundation CAREER Award, have focused on environmental and economic
issues in advanced materials processing. This is my continued research
focus within the CHN - to review the Life Cycle Assessment of the various
processes under development and to assess any alternatives to find a more environmentally
benign process or product. This work was initiated with an NSF grant (NER)
grant to explore and compare process alternatives for the manufacture of carbon
nanotubes. The issues related to these types of investigations in the
auto industry are discussed in an article in the
Northeastern University Magazine. This field of research has evolved to be
called "Environmentally Benign Design and Manufacturing".
Research interests in powder metallurgy have connected me with efforts at
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), where in 1997 I became an adjunct in the
Metals Processing Institute (MPI).
I also lead a team of researchers (engineers, multimedia specialists, game
designers, and educational assessors) who are working to redesign an
educational game called Shortfall!. This game
encourages students to role play in teams representing an automotive supply
chain. They make decisions based on technological, economic and
environmental tradeoffs within a production facility. This work is
initiated with an NSF grant to
assess the extent of learning through this interactive multimedia.
I maintain an affiliate position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in the Materials Systems Laboratory (MSL) within the Center for
Technology, Policy and Industrial Development (CTPID), where I originally learned to
develop analysis tools for decision making in this arena. Collaborations
with departmental colleagues in the Industrial Engineering Group include the
Laboratory for Responsible Manufacturing (LRM).