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Credit: World Scientific
The 1980s witnessed technologies focus on reducing costs and improving performance. However, at the turn of 21st century, there appeared to have been a paradigm shift; moving scientific and technological innovation into the age of "Politico-Engineering" (i.e. politically initiated engineering), with an emphasis on sustainable and crisis-managing technologies. Despite this shift, it seems that few books revolve around this interdisciplinary area between engineering and global politics or international relationship. Published by World Scientific, Global Crisis and Sustainability Technologies bravely ventures into this topic. The book begins with a background of politico-engineering and delves into its applications in crisis technology, sustainability technology and risk management. While many topics in science and technical development are heavily cited from the author's area of expertise in piezoelectric actuators, each case study can be extended to and are instructive to a wide group of readers. Specifically, Global Crisis and Sustainability Technologies covers technologies for crises such as natural disasters and terrorist incidents, and societal sustainability like renewable energy and risk management. The author proposes the following slogan as the direction of research in the 21st century: "cooperation, protection, reduction and continuation (?? ??? ?? ). He advocates international cooperation to accelerate mutual communication, the protection of sovereign territory from natural and man-made challenges, and the reduction of toxic materials used, for the sake of sustainability and continuation. The most impressive aspect of this book is its non-technical introduction and overview of the Politico-Engineering situation in today's world. This makes it suitable for a wide audience, ranging from undergraduate and graduate students studying engineering and law, to active researchers who have an interest in intellectual properties and Science and Technology policy-making. The book is currently used for an intensive summer program at Keio University, Japan. Lastly, this book is a product of Kenji Uchino, who boasts extraordinary achievements. One of the pioneers in piezoelectric actuators, he is the Founding Director of the International Center for Actuators and Transducers and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, USA. Armed as a university professor for 41 years, a company executive (president/vice president) for 22 years and a government officer both in Japan and US for 7 years, his book is a reflection of his insights and experience.
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Global Crisis and Sustainability Technologies retails at US$68 / £56 (hardcover) and US$38 / £32 (softcover) at leading bookstores. For further information regarding the book, please visit http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/1009 If you require a review copy or additional information, please contact Amanda Yun at heyun@wspc.com.
About World Scientific
World Scientific Publishing is a leading independent publisher of books and journals for the scholarly, research and professional communities. The company publishes about 600 books annually and about 130 journals in various fields. World Scientific collaborates with prestigious organisations like the Nobel Foundation and US National Academies Press to bring high quality academic and professional content to researchers and academics worldwide. To find out more about World Scientific, please visit http://www.worldscientific.com.
For more information, contact Amanda Yun at heyun@wspc.com.