Preface
Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on December 26, 2017 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: August 29, 1989 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1989-0404.pr001
GROWTH
IN C O M P U T E R
POWER
A N D CAPABILITY
has
continued
unabated over the past five years, along with a wider dissemination of these capabilities to research and development (R&D) workers (e.g., scientists, technologists, and managers) in the field of applied polymer science. Concurrent with this growth have been business and societal driving forces that have also influenced the R & D work place. These driving forces include • increasing globalization of the chemical industry; • increasingly aggressive worldwide competition; • shorter cycles from product development to market introduction; • greater emphasis on customer needs; • increasing global concerns for safety, health, and the environment; • improved economics from product and process development customer end-use; and
to
• emphasis on quality. The combined effect of the emerging business and societal driving forces and the growth of computer power and capability is the absorption and proliferation of computer technology into all facets of the R & D work place. This confluence is reflected in the field of applied polymer science by the growth and proliferation of laboratory information generation, management, and analysis tools, and the wider availability and use of cost-effective, sophisticated modeling tools. In this volume, several chapters deal with automation, modeling, simulation, optimization, and control. The concept of task automation for the R & D worker, discussed in Chapter 1 of Computer Applications in the Polymer Laboratory, ACS Symposium Series No. 313, is well on the way to being realized through the proliferation of powerful, low-cost universal work stations coupled to
xiii Provder; Computer Applications in Applied Polymer Science II ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1989.
networks that facilitate the transfer of information and communications between the technical and business functions. Looking forward to the year 2000,1 expect that advances in computer technology will embody and accelerate some of the following trends that will affect R & D in applied polymer science: • more computer power at less cost (e.g., transputers and parallel processors for PCs);
Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on December 26, 2017 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: August 29, 1989 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1989-0404.pr001
• increasing availability of low-cost, user-friendly simulation and modeling packages (such as those for finite element analysis, equation-solving expert systems, and specific polymerization processes); • growth of expert system applications through improved, lower cost, easier to use software (e.g., neural networks and inductive reasoning and learning); • robotics applications that will expand to sophisticated and difficult parallel tasks with a decreased cost of entry; • growth of highly user-friendly, technically sophisticated, selfoptimizing automated instruments based on expert systems; and • molecular modeling for designer polymers with a profile of specific chemical and physical properties. By the year 2000, advances in computer technology coupled with business and societal driving forces will indeed have a significant impact on applied polymer science R & D . The focus will have shifted from implementation of new computer technology to extensive application in product R & D and problem solving. Acknowledgment I thank the authors for their effective oral and written presentations and the reviewers for their efforts in providing critiques and constructive comments. THEODORE PROVDER
The Glidden Company, part of the ICI Paints World Group Strongsville, O H 44136 June 21, 1989
xiv Provder; Computer Applications in Applied Polymer Science II ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1989.
