Foreword
Engineering activities are based on the development of new Knowledge (Scientia), new 'made things' (Techné), and/or new ways of working and doing (Praxis). Scientia, Techné, and Praxis are three important dimensions of a comprehensive conception of Engineering as a whole. Engineering, as Scientia, is mostly developed in academia; as Techné, is practiced in industry generating technological innovations; and as Praxis, is carried out in technical and non-technical organizations, supporting managerial activities and technical procedures, via methodical and methodological design and implementation. This is why Engineering provides one of the most solid academic and professional substrata for bridging among universities, industries and governments.
Publications and conferences related to Engineering are usually oriented to one of its three dimensions. While this is an adequate thing to do when disciplinary focus is sought, it does not represent Engineering as a whole and it misses the very important synergic relationships among the three kinds of engineering activities mentioned above. This is why a group of scholars, professionals, and consultants, in the field of engineering, considered the possibility of organizing a conference where presentations would not be reduced to one specific Engineering dimension, but would foster the participation of academics, practitioners, and managers in the three dimensions of Engineering, in the same conference, so they can synergistically interact with each other. A consequence of this purpose was the organization of yearly International Multi-Conferences on Engineering and Technological Innovations (IMETI), since 2009, in the respective summers, and International Conferences on Engineering and Meta-Engineering (ICEME), since 2010, in the respective springs.
In both yearly conferences submissions are accepted for the presentation of
- New knowledge (Engineering as scientia);
- New products and services, i.e. technological
innovations (Engineering as techné);
- New technical and managerial methods and methodologies (Engineering as praxis);
- New meta-engineering (Engineering of Engineering
activities) knowledge, innovations, and methodologies.
One of the primary objectives of The 2nd International Conference on Engineering and Meta-Engineering (ICEME 2011) is to promote and encourage interdisciplinary cross-fertilization and knowledge communication. They encourage systemic thinking and practice, including the analogical thinking that characterizes the Systems Approach, which is, in most cases, the required path to logical thinking, scientific hypothesis formulation, and new design and innovation in engineering.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee, I extend our heartfelt thanks to:
-
the 173 members of the Program
Committees from 41 countries;
-
the 204 additional reviewers,
from 54 countries, for their double-blind
peer reviews;
-
the 125 reviewers, from 35 countries,
for their efforts in making the non-blind
peer reviews. (Some reviewers supported
both: non-blind and double-blind)
A total of 620 reviews made by 329 reviewers (who made at least one review) contributed to the quality achieved in ICEME 2011. This means an average of 6.39 reviews per submission (97 submissions were received). Each registered author could get information about: 1) the average of the reviewers’ evaluations according to 8 criteria, and the average of a global evaluation of his/her submission; and 2) the comments and constructive feedback made by the reviewers, who recommended the acceptance of his/her submission, so the author would be able to improve the final version of the paper.
In the organizational process of ICEME 2011 about 97 papers/abstracts were submitted. These conference proceedings include about 40 papers that were accepted for presentation. The submissions were reviewed as carefully as time permitted; it is expected that most of them will probably appear in a more polished and complete form in scientific journals.
This information about ICEME 2011 is summarized in the following table, along with the other collocated conferences:
Conference |
# of submissions received |
# of reviewers that made at least one review |
# of reviews made |
Average of reviews per reviewer |
Average of reviews per submission |
# of papers included in the proceedings |
% of submissions included in the proceedings |
IMCIC
2011 |
351 |
1118 |
2236 |
2.00 |
6.37 |
145 |
41.31% |
ICSIT 2011 |
145 |
524 |
1099 |
2.10 |
7.58 |
70 |
48.28% |
ICEME 2011 |
97 |
329 |
620 |
1.88 |
6.39 |
40 |
41.24% |
CICIC 2011 |
109 |
308 |
725 |
2.35 |
6.65 |
36 |
33.03% |
TOTAL |
702 |
2279 |
4680 |
2.05 |
6.67 |
291 |
41.45% |
We extend our gratitude to the co-editors of these proceedings, for the hard work, energy and eagerness they displayed in their respective activities. We express our intense gratitude to Professor William Lesso for his wise and opportune tutoring, for his eternal energy, integrity, and continuous support and advice as Honorary President of ICEME 2011 and its collocated conferences, as well as for being a very caring old friend and intellectual father to many of us. We also extend our gratitude to Professor Belkis Sanchez, who brilliantly managed the organizing process.
Special thanks to professors Jorge Baralt and Hsing-Wei Chu for co-chairing the Program Committee; and to professors José Ferrer and Andrés Tremante for co-charing the Organizing Committee. We also wish to thank all the authors for the quality of their papers, and to the 329 reviewers for the great job they did making the 620 reviews that supported the acceptance process.
We also extend our gratitude to María Sánchez, Juan Manuel Pineda, Leonisol Callaos, Dalia Sánchez, Keyla Guédez, Nidimar Díaz, Marcela Briceño, Freddy Callaos, Abrahan Marin, Marisela Jimenez, Natacha Rondón, and Sean and Louis Barnes for their knowledgeable effort in supporting the organizational process and for producing the hard copy and CD versions of the proceedings.
Professor Nagib C. Callaos,
ICEME 2011 General Chair
