18 Manufacturing

The identification of a human being as homo faber, “man the creator (or maker),” shows how our capacity to fabricateobjects is intrinsic to our nature. Working with our hands gives us intimate physical connection with things, shaping in our mind various schema for how nature works. With the industrial revolution, the human capacity to make objects was hugely expanded and the reliability of manufacturing processes came to depend critically on a correct understanding of the synthesis of energy supplies, mechanical motions and forces, material behavior, and structural assembly into rapid and reproducible production of items that we need. Lately, manufacturing also embeds sophisticated technologies for control and information processing into many products. Also, products like cell phones, electric appliances, and automobiles rely upon carefully designed and constructed physical infrastructures for communication, energy delivery, and transportation. New challenges have emerged as a consequence of the very success that manufacturing provided to sustain human population growth. We must think more carefully about the use of materials and production methods that are sustainable,so that future generations will not lose their opportunity to enjoy the same richness of physical goods. We are long past the point in which we could ignore the impact of manufacturing processes on the environment, including both our own living conditions and the conditions in which an essential diversity of life exists on our planet. At the same time, exciting opportunities exist to use physics to provide new capabilities in manufacturing, from molecular-scale assembly to highly flexible production “on demand” of objects when and where we need them. The expansion of human presence into space and soon, perhaps, onto other planets heightens the need to optimize the use of energy, materials, and processes to make things that support our well-being, enable our enjoyment of life, and continue our growth of knowledge.