The University of Missouri-Rolla will host the 2004 Lean Aerospace Initiative annual meeting on Nov. 10 in St. Louis and Nov. 11-12 in Rolla.

"Lean enterprise is a state that many world-class companies strive to be," says conference organizer Dr. Venkat Allada, associate professor engineering management and director of the Sustainable Design Laboratory at UMR. "Lean enterprises have streamlined business and industrial processes to dramatically reduce waste and measure enterprise responsiveness in terms of time and cost."

The meeting, with the theme "Growing the Lean Enterprise Knowledge Network," is jointly sponsored by UMR, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and St. Louis-based Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.

"MIT’s Lean Aerospace Initiative consortium has been actively researching and implementing the application of lean principles in the aerospace industry since 1993," Allada says. "The consortium includes commercial and defense industry, government, organized labor and academia. Education is the key foundational skill for people to contribute in their enterprises and UMR is well prepared to act in that role."

Participants from 14 universities and five businesses will learn about industry progress on lean enterprise initiatives and the development and deployment of lean curriculum based on research and practice, and network with others interested in incorporating lean principles into their curriculum.

From value-based smart systems engineering to measuring student learning, the sessions will provide insight into the development of lean enterprise in both the United States and the United Kingdom. A panel discussion, moderated by Allada, will give participants a chance to hear about industry’s perspectives on lean enterprise. Tours of Boeing’s F/A-18 factory and several UMR laboratories are also planned.

For more information about the meeting, contact Allada at (573) 341-4573 or visit www.mst.edu/~sdl..