Forgotten practice can save US industry $500 billion a year: Tribology - the science of friction, lubrication, and wear - must be rediscovered

摘要

US engineering advancement has been catalyzed over the decades by external threats: the Space Race threat from the Soviet Union in the 1960s; the economic threat from Japan's low-cost, high-quality manufacturing in the 1970s; the demographic threat from post-World War II engineering retirements in the 1980s; the global threat as US competitiveness declined in the 1990s; and now the environmental threat driving the need for global energy conservation and sustainability. In addition, the impending retirement of the Baby Boom generation challenges the engineering profession, as these workers will take with them a vast amount of knowledge and skill that must be replaced.