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For further information contact Dr. C. William Kauffman , University of Michigan at email address <cwkuaff@engin.umich>

A group of American Companies including Electronic Data Systems (EDS -Ros Pirot - General Motors), Sprint, Hewlett Packard VTEL, Stratasys, and others, are investing $46 million to create an EDS Unigraphics CAD/CAM/CAE software, VTEL video-conferencing systems, Stratasys rapid prototyping equipment, Secure and audited access to corporate databases through Aerotech Service Group, Global communications networking for data and video from Sprint , so that US industrial customers can begin hiring well- trained Russian engineers and scientists to work from their office in Russia by computer. and provide training to American youth for participation and employment. We are seeking $23 million in additional corporate or government partners in Russia or the U.S. to participate.

Proposal to Establish the Virtual Interactive East-West Network for Engineering and Technology (VIEWNET)

PREAMBLE

The people of the Russian Federation and the United States of America recognize and respect the invaluable contributions each has made to the world of science, engineering, and technology. We recognize that RussiaFs highly trained and educated workforce is underemployed and that RussiaFs economy is passing through a challenging and difficult transition. We also recognize that in order to be competitive in the global economy, Russia must preserve its body of educated technicians, engineers and scientists, educate a new generation of students in the technical professions, and increase the countryFs economic base. And we recognize that AmericaFs industry has shortages of trained technicians, engineers and scientists. There is also a high unemployment rate among inner city youth who will benefit from technical training. Therefore, it is mutually advantageous to forge alliances between US industry and various organizations in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in order to employ the needed experts in Russia and the other nations of the FSU, to strengthen and stabilize their economies, and to better educate the students in both places for technical positions in a global economy.

However, the current absence of the infrastructure to support the required types of interactive collaboration is a barrier to this process. The Virtual Interactive East-West Network for Engineering and Technology (VIEWNET) is designed to remove that barrier and foster the formation of these mutually beneficial relationships. Through VIEWNET, engineers, scientists, technicians and students in both countries can learn to work and interact in the global industrial and commercial community. Also, Russia and the United States have a great wealth of history and culture which each nation desires to share with the other. VIEWNET can enhance this exchange through further interactions of the educational institutions in each country.

The beneficial uses of the connectivity which will be created are virtually limitless.

OVERVIEW

This project will establish high-speed (well beyond effective bandwidth currently obtainable on Internet to Russia) communications links between industry-rich regions of the US and several sites in Russia and the FSU. Expansion to additional places in the FSU, other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, and NATO member countries will be possible in the future. The project will equip its sites with a proven set of hardware and software for collaborative engineering design, and will provide training in US standards, quality procedures, project management and team building. This will enable US industry and universities to tap in place the resources of the Russian scientific/engineering community, and foster US industrial support for the Russian technical community. This meets US industry needs while reducing the danger which underemployed Russian technical experts represent to the world. Training programs and demonstration projects, funded by government and industry partners, will help prepare Russian participants in areas of needed expertise for collaboration with a broader set of US universities and with industry using the VIEWNET facilities. VIEWNET is not limited in either magnitude of participation or in timeframe, as most grant programs necessarily are. It can complement programs such as ISTC and CRDF, aiding some participants during their grant periods or fostering industrial support for the FSU participants after grant termination. The project is readily expandable to other regions and to all US universities/ companies as increasing use provides industrial funding and research funding (through traditional channels) to support it. The program is designed to continue operating indefinitely, funded entirely by industry after the four- year startup period.

OBJECTIVES

1) Link US industry and Russian engineering/design/science experts into working engineering, R&D teams.

Benefits:

a) Provides professional employment for underemployed Russian experts, reducing the threat of recruitment for weapons development, and enhancing the stability of the Russian economy.

b) Helps to satisfy unmet engineering and R&D demands of American industry, large and small firms.

c) Makes available to small/medium-sized companies a pool of design and engineering expertise available ton callv to enable them to win contracts as suppliers to large companies. Availability of VIEWNET experts experienced in formulating East/West agreements significantly reduces the difficulties faced in reaching and operating under agreements between US firms and Russian institutions. Notes: This program targets meeting unmet demands, rather than displacing current or available American workers. The present shortage of qualified personnel in some industries and technical areas is extreme, and some of that demand can be met by Russian experts, if this program is implemented.

Small-to-medium companies serving aerospace and automotive industries typically cannot afford to keep a large R&D staff to meet occasional needs to develop new designs, but prime contractors/OEMs increasingly demand that design capability in order to win contracts.

This program does not drain Russia of its experts, but rather supports their technical and science/ research/educational establishment by providing work for their people within Russia, bringing in foreign currency. It lessens the pressures for them to leave Russia for countries seeking to use their expertise for weapons development, significantly decreasing that threat to world peace and stability, and helping to develop a viable role for Russia in the world economy.

2) Provide communications links, appropriate training, and collaborative tools between US industrial R&D groups, university faculty, experts in FSU universities and research institutes, and others with legitimate needs consistent with the project aims.

Benefits:

a) Fosters joint projects which will provide financial support for Russian engineers, scientists, and technologists, enabling them to continue scientific work in Russia, and supporting Russian economic growth.

b) Provides Russian technical personnel good access to the Western scientific community and its information resources, including on-line library and database resources, allowing access to current results, tools, information, Western standards for civilian product quality, and important industrially-motivated problems, thereby increasing their value to US companies. Can serve Russians active on ISTC, CRDF, SABIT, and other collaborative grant programs.

c) Provides an outstanding bargain in expertise to US sponsors of joint and/or Russian activities. Operating agreements will assure protection of the pre-existing intellectual property of all participants, and of appropriate sharing of rights to intellectual property created through joint efforts.

Notes: The joining of Western and Russian technologies, which have sometimes diverged dramatically, sometimes produces novel approaches to problems which are superior to results of either approach in isolation. Even when that is not the case, the excellent theoretical, mathematical, and practical education of many Russian scientists, engineers and technologists constitutes an important and virtually untapped resource for increasing the global competitiveness of US industry.

3) Initiate joint US/Russian demonstration/training projects involving US universities and industry with Russian scientists, engineers and technologists, to prepare them for future work with industrial or university collaborators.

Benefits: a) Identifies Russians with significant expertise of interest to US industry and universities, for future projects, and taps the Russian technological base of expertise in an appropriate manner, with appropriate remuneration. b) Trains Russian and US participants in the use of the collaborative tools and methods provided by this project. Prepares them for later, larger-scale, industrially funded design, manufacturing, R&D, or training work by introducing them to world-class software for design, manufacturing, and other tasks. Cross-cultural training and team-building expertise of VIEWNET staff is important to help participants minimize personal communication problems, misunderstandings, and differences in expectations.

Notes: Demonstration projects would be required to show promise for continuation/expansion under other funding. That could be shown through industrial involvement or identification of likely funding sources.

Demonstration project funds would primarily provide direct support of FSU personnel, but small amounts (max. $4K/site) would be allowed for US participants at non-VIEWNET-equipped universities, colleges, and NGOs to obtain compatible single-seat (PC-based) videoconferencing equipment to communicate effectively through VIEWNET with their FSU colleagues. 4) Prepare students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and urban youth development programs (including Project: HOPE in Cleveland, The Cornerstone Partnership in St. Louis, The Manufacturing Partnership in Rochester, NY and Fast Track LA), Native American students, and students in remote areas to work in global enterprises, through experience in global team design, and through training in the Russian language and international business practices. Assist Russian efforts to establish tmagnetv schools for science and technology, encouraging students to enter these disciplines.

Benefits: a) Urban youth development programs, academic/industry coalitions and HBCUs want to prepare students for the emerging market economy of FSU nations. VIEWNET allows them to establish US/FSU student teams for design/manufacturing projects, and allows faculty members of FSU universities to provide instruction in Russian language and culture for US students. Native American students can participate in these programs, and residents of the Four Corners area have expressed strong interest in establishing cultural connections with ethnically similar groups in RussiaFs Far East.

b) US-based engineering and business students can team on projects with Russian students, providing thands-onv experience in global teamwork. This is a strong motivating factor for US youth and for Russian students, most of whom are discouraged about the value of receiving a technical education.

c) Additional US companies will gain contact through VIEWNET with the trainees in these youth development programs, and because they will be using the same software tools for design and collaboration, can easily become customers (sponsors) of the training programs, thereby accomplishing engineering/design tasks and gaining access to graduates.

d) Benefits to the US economy and the US taxpayer for training and placement of students participating in youth development programs, community colleges, and universities are dramatically illustrated in accompanying figures.

Notes: The teaming and training methods to be used throughout VIEWNET are based on models from US-based youth development programs and academic/industry partnerships. They have been used successfully to develop the technical skills of urban youth and engineering students in compliance with the demand from collaborating US companies. As part of their training, students perform actual engineering/design/production work for the sponsoring companies, collaborating with them by means of the hardware and software tools to be available at all VIEWNET sites. This hardware and software for collaboration and training at a distance is well suited to the demands of VIEWNET.

These teams have many training modules usable in VIEWNET, again using the common hardware/software platforms and tools, which prepare students for this work. Modules are being developed to teach many courses (including CAD, CAM, mathematics, thermodynamics, English, writing, electronics, computer programming, machine design, etc.) to students at pre-college, associateFs, bachelorFs, and masterFs levels. M. modules can be used to prepare Russian students and practicing engineers for working with US CAD/CAM systems, American units and standards, and the specific software to be used for some of the design work. Thus, VIEWNET utilizes proven, available technology and materials, so that a major software/courseware development effort is NOT required before VIEWNET can begin to serve its users effectively.

5) Allow remote distance learning by US and FSU students, with teaching by expert faculty from the other country.

Benefits: a) Gives students access to world-class experts otherwise inaccessible to them, in an interactive classroom environment allowing for questions and answers, not just videotaped lectures. Allows great improvement in foreign language instruction in participating institutions in both countries, including both lecture/recitation experiences and on-line practice by students with native speakers. Impacts about 2400 US and 1000 FSU students/year by year three of project.

b) Motivates science, engineering, medical, agriculture, and business students in FSU through contact with US faculty and practicing experts, increasing the studentsF understanding of the global opportunities their education will make available to them. Impacts about 1000 FSU students/year by year three of project.

c) Prepares students for future work with professionals from the other country.

d) Extends the scope, clientele, and teaching resources of the Virtual Automotive College and of the Western GovernorsF University to include the FSU. US auto companies and suppliers are keenly interested in the potential market represented by the FSU and have used experts under the existing Department of Commerce SABIT program. VIEWNET can provide these companies an inexpensive, low-risk way to prepare FSU engineers to participate in joint design work for vehicles and production facilities for the FSU. Aerospace companies are similarly interested in both the market potential and the technical/material resources of the FSU. Extending the scope of the Western GovernorsF University can allow it to serve education/training needs of the US aerospace industry for potential employees/suppliers in the FSU. 6) Provide global team experiences for US and FSU students as part of design courses and senior projects.

Benefits: a) Prepares students for teamwork with their counterparts from other cultures. This will impact approximately 1000 US and 1000 FSU students/year by year three of the project (note that m. students are also involved in objective 5a and 5b above).

b) Teaches vital communication and project management skills needed for success of globally distributed teams.

HOW THE OBJECTIVES ARE ACCOMPLISHED:

1) Establish VIEWNET, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization, to receive and administer funds. VIEWNET Board of Directors hires Executive Director, who recruits other staff, including legal counsel in US and Russia, division directors, Moscow manager, etc. Bring managers and key personnel from each Russian site to US for extensive training on tools and on facilitating effective cross-cultural communications and team building. 2) Contract for high-speed data connections between regions of the US and several key localities in Russia, providing sufficient bandwidth to support real-time window sharing and videoconferencing among the sites (considerably exceeding the practical capacity of Internet-based connections between them). Increase bandwidth as usage of VIEWNET increases. Utilize services of Sprint and other carriers among sites in US and among sites in Russia. Staff of MERIT (the entity founded and controlled by UM, MSU, and Wayne State University, which became custodian of the NSF Internet backbone until it ceased operation) will house and administer the US end of the VIEWNET link to Russia. 3) Establish Design and Prototyping Centers at (initially) nine cities (seven in US, two in Russia). Add cities (at least 2/year in FSU, 2/year in US) in years 2, 3 and 4. Each site in those cities shall have between 8 and 25 engineering workstations running (at a minimum) Unigraphics CAD/CAM/CAE software and an EDS-supplied suite of distance collaboration tools, and a 12-to-25-seat video- conferencing and remote distance education laboratory, based on the VTEL equipment. Each site also has one or two rapid prototyping machines, enabling quick production of prototype parts from CAD designs. Participating US and Russian sites must provide space, operation and maintenance of the space, and security for the equipment at their own expense. As companies establish successful relationships, larger ones may install their own workstations in dedicated facilities, while still using VIEWNET facilities for the international communications/videoconferencing links. This will allow the VIEWNET laboratories in FSU to continue to be used to introduce new US customers to the VIEWNET capability, and to serve the smaller US companies. 4) Connect the principal US VIEWNET hubs to the Internet at rates allowing the needed communications, allowing US companies and educational institutions high speed transmission of packet data to/from the Russian link either via their existing connections to US VIEWNET hubs (if Internet bandwidth is adequate to their site) or via leased high-speed connections to VIEWNET hubs. Establish video links using ISDN connections until/unless superseded by packet network capabilities. 5) Provide smaller configurations of workstations and/or video training facilities as needed (3-8 seats) to allow other US educational participants in the project. Some may require only the software, some only the videoconferencing systems, etc. 6) Design the network so that any necessary increases in bandwidth to meet the demands of industrial use (for remote job shops, etc.) may be inexpensively accommodated under industrial funding. 7) At each US site, provide partial support for persons acting as site operations manager and education/training coordinator, with site furnishing all needed supplies/services to support the operation. At FSU sites, support full-time local personnel as site operations manager, education/training coordinator; provide a supplies/services budget sufficient to allow efficient operation. 8) Coordinate the network sites and technologies in Russia with the efforts to improve/expand the Internet in the FSU funded by the Soros Foundation, the governments of the FSU states, and others, greatly increasing the access within the FSU to our high-speed links. Use infrastructure already put in place by Global One (Sprint partner) and other carriers within the FSU. Assist in establishment of additional network connections in FSU as needed to meet needs of US sponsors, under their funding. 9) Publicize the availability of this system throughout US industry and academia, and throughout Russia, with minimal costs to companies or universities wishing to initiate collaboration, and with gradual transition of the costs of expanding/maintaining service to the companies/sponsors as usage continues. 10) Provide funding to initiate a small number of startup activities at each site, including training activities, educational offerings, and development projects aimed at attracting future industrial support for identified sites of Russian expertise. Share costs with industry where possible. 11) Provide standardized templates and expert assistance in contracting for services between parties wishing to use VIEWNET, securing their rights in pre-existing intellectual property and the allocation of rights to property created through joint activities. 12) For demonstration and industrially funded projects, train team members in standards, quality measures, etc., to be used, and in cross-cultural team communication skills. 13) Provide (or provide access to) expert translation services available on call to assist with resolving any communications difficulties among team members, or with potential customers or employees.

WHY THE PROJECT WILL SUCCEED: The model and hardware/software technology proposed here for remote training, teamwork, and supervision of engineering/product development projects is a PROVEN MODEL, already tested in many projects between US industry and students at industry/academic partnership programs and being implemented at The Manufacturing Partnership, The Cornerstone Partnership, Project: HOPE, Fast Track LA, etc. The CAD/CAM/CAE software is widely used in the US aerospace and automotive industries in the targeted initial service regions. A successful example of the concept driving this project is the F-18 D/E model which was concurrently engineered by McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, Northrop Grumman in Los Angeles, and General Electric in Cincinnati, using the concept of remote distance engineering. This project used the MPOWER Web and Shared X software, and hardware like that proposed here.

Electronic Data Systems (EDS), VTEL, Stratasys, and Sprint, four of the Industrial Partners, have participated in those projects. EDS is currently sponsoring research to test and improve tools/methods for global engineering design teams, under guidance of some of VIEWNETFs proposers, with collaborating team members located at Michigan State University, Singapore, and Kaiserslautern, Germany. Expertise in cross-cultural communications training is available to the VIEWNET team at Michigan State University.

EDS, Hewlett Packard, and VTEL are strongly committed to providing excellent tools to facilitate remote collaboration within engineering design teams. They see this as an important part of their future business, have already committed significant resources toward this goal, and are prepared to invest significant corporate resources in this project. As the project matures other hardware and software companies will be invited to participate.

AeroTech Service Group, another Industrial Partner, has developed tools to permit sharing of design data between McDonnell Douglas (St. Louis) and its suppliers and customers, while assuring the security of data not to be released or altered. They will work with VIEWNET staff and users to customize those tools for transfer of data and audit of those data transfers among participants in the US and FSU, safeguarding the intellectual property of all participants.

Boeing, one of AmericaFs leading manufacturers, recently indicated it was in need of 5,000 additional engineers to meet their expanding global market, and is unable to find them in the US They are very interested in establishing a fremote job shopF in Russia, and could be an early user of this program.

Ford Motor Company, which has been working with Russian experts for several years, has given a strong endorsement of the VIEWNET concept, and plans to use it for much of its future Russia/FSU technical work.

General Motors, Ford, and an automotive supplier, through Michigan State UniversityFs Manufacturing Research Consortium, have already initiated small joint research projects with several universities in Russia. While much progress has been made, work is slowed by the lack of communications capabilities and common tools. There is potential for much larger scale projects with the capabilities of the proposed program.

This is not a short-term project which will terminate as government funding is exhausted, as most aid programs must. The infrastructure will continue to be available to all who wish to participate. It is providing FSU participants tools and specific collaborative skills to earn a living, not welfare { fishing nets, not a ration of fish.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

See Appendix tAv.

TIME LINE

See Appendix tBv.

CHARGE STRUCTURE FOR INDUSTRIAL USERS

See Appendix tCv.

LIST OF PROPOSERS

The principal collaborators in this proposal were:

R.E. tRustyv Butler, Ph.D. C.W. tBillv Kauffman, Ph.D. Executive Director Professor of Aerospace Engineering Utah-Russia Institute The University of Michigan

William A. Maxwell Hulas H. King Director, Strategic Programs Director, Industry Partnership Programs Hewlett Packard Convex EDS Unigraphics

Ray H. Beckett, Ph.D. Kent Ramsay Program Manager General Territory Manager Southwest Center for VTEL Corporation Environmental Research & Policy The University of Utah

Erik D. Goodman, Ph.D. Frank Spurlock Director, Case Center for Computer-Aided NASA Lewis Research Center Engineering and Manufacturing Director, MSU Manufacturing Research Consortium James O. Morgan, D.Eng., P.E. Professor, Mech. Engineering; Elec. Engineering Professor of Mechanical Engineering Michigan State University Prairie View A&M University (representing Historically Black Colleges & Universities)

Harvey Ziegler David E. Morgan, D.Sc., P.E. Hewlett Packard Advanced Engineering McDonnell Douglas

George Brill Patricia C. Donohue, Ph.D. President Vice Chancellor for Education AeroTech Service Group, Inc. St. Louis Community College

Dave Grabski Burton Hurdle, Ph.D. Senior Associate Senior Research Scientist ClevelandFs Project: HOPE US Naval Research Laboratory

Carl Herrin Sergei Chernyshev, Ph.D. American Council of Teachers of Russian Vice President ACTR/ACCLES TsAGI International

ADMINISTRATION OF VIEWNET

Overall Organization

VIEWNET shall be established and overseen by the Utah-Russia Institute, or by a successor organization similarly chartered by the states of Utah and Michigan. It shall be established as VIEWNET, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation, shall seek tax-exempt status in the US and in Russia, and shall be governed by a Board of Directors. It shall have an Executive Director who shall be responsible for the administration of VIEWNET in all countries in which it operates. The Executive Director shall be appointed by the Board of Directors of VIEWNET, Inc. The Executive Director, with the approval of the Board of Directors, shall appoint or contract for such other central executive/management personnel as are required, including a contracting/legal officer, secretarial and accounting personnel, etc. The administrative and legal affairs in Russia shall be handled from the VIEWNET office in Moscow, by employees of VIEWNET reporting to the Executive Director, acting as a liaison with all Russian installations. Subsequent offices shall be established in other countries as necessary to carry on the activities of VIEWNET.

The Board of Directors shall consist of representatives of the following organizations:

The Utah-Russia Institute Utah State University The University of Michigan Michigan State University Prairie View A&M University (representing the HBCUs, through AMIE.) St. Louis Community College (representing community colleges) Electronic Data Systems Hewlett Packard Sprint Project: HOPE (Cleveland) (representing The Cornerstone Partnership (St. Louis), The Manufacturing Partnership (Rochester, NY), Fast Track LA, other urban economic development programs) GovernorFs Office, State of Utah GovernorFs Office, State of Michigan Two collaborating institutions in Russia

VIEWNET shall have two administrative components for delivery of its services, each headed by a director:

I. Operations Division II. Education/Training Division

US companies wishing to use VIEWNET facilities and services, for example, to locate, employ, train, and communicate with engineers in the FSU, shall work first with the Executive Director and contracting officer to make suitable financial arrangements. The services they require will then be coordinated through one of VIEWNETFs two divisions.

I. Operations Division The Operations Division, under the Director of Operations, shall include all technical personnel involved in planning, acquiring, implementing, and supporting the communications and computing hardware and software required for all VIEWNET operations. In addition to central site personnel at the primary US network hub in Ann Arbor, a site manager will be employed (part- or full-time) for each major VIEWNET-managed facility in the US and FSU. It will be the responsibility of the Operations Division to provide and maintain highly reliable service among all VIEWNET sites, suitable connections to the Internet, and reliable operations within each site. The Operations Division must also monitor and plan for growth in service demand, and report regularly to the Board its projections for future needs in bandwidth, networking hardware, computing hardware, conferencing hardware, and software to meet emerging needs of VIEWNET and its customers.

A board consisting of representatives of the following Industrial Partners will serve in an advisory capacity to the Director of Operations: Hewlett Packard Electronic Data Systems Sprint VTEL Stratasys AeroTech Service Group, Inc. MERIT, Inc. Others, as required The Operations Division shall provide all required assistance to enable parties using VIEWNET for education/training or industrial R&D projects to have convenient and reliable tools available for teaching and technical collaboration.

II. Education/Training Division The Education/Training Division shall be responsible for: 1) coordinating and promoting the use of VIEWNET for education and training activities in service to US and FSU industry, universities, colleges, and technical training organizations. 2) identifying and supporting necessary training programs to prepare technical personnel and students for global collaboration. 3) initiating demonstration projects at each VIEWNET site to provide experience in the use of VIEWNET-supplied tools for collaborative work between US and FSU experts, thereby identifying and preparing teams for future collaboration under support of industry or research granting agencies/foundations.

The Director shall be advised by a board including the following representatives:

3 universities 1 4-year college 1 community college

Project: HOPE (Cleveland) (representing The Cornerstone Partnership (St. Louis), The Manufacturing Partnership (Rochester, NY), Fast Track LA, other urban economic development programs) 1 Historically Black College or University The Western GovernorsF University Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) 2 participating organizations in Russia

In addition to arranging for training needed to meet the basic mission of VIEWNET under internal funding, the division shall also assist industry in finding appropriate training programs to meet their needs for training employees/interns/students in the other country using VIEWNET facilities.

Based on its expertise with FSU technical organizations, and the knowledge base of expertise acquired through the education and demonstration projects it has funded, the division shall also assist potential industrial customers of VIEWNET services in locating appropriate organizations in the FSU with which to establish relationships to meet the customerFs needs. However, the Contracting Officer, on the staff of the VIEWNET Executive Director, shall be responsible for arranging the terms of any resulting contractual agreements.

BUSINESS PLAN

Overview

VIEWNET will be jointly initiated by US industry, government, universities, and others, in collaboration with leading technical universities, laboratories, and firms in the Former Soviet Union. The initial infrastructure required will be funded by the US Government and a small group of US Industrial Partners which provide tools and services to support engineering design, research, development, manufacturing, collaboration, and related technical education. A program of education, technical training, team building and demonstration projects, funded jointly by government and US companies interested in the technical expertise available in the FSU, will utilize the facilities to prepare people in the US and the FSU to carry out joint engineering/research/scientific activities, in order to meet needs which cannot currently be met within the US, and to support the FSU technical/educational infrastructure and sustain technical/scientific personnel who might otherwise leave the FSU to gain employment.

As US manufacturers utilize the services provided through VIEWNET more heavily, they will support an increasing share of the costs. Some larger users will be encouraged to build their own additional laboratories of workstations, but may continue using VIEWNET services for technical support, data and video communications, etc. The education/training and demonstration program will gradually transition to projects supported solely by VIEWNETFs customers. The use of VIEWNET by US industry to carry out design, research, and product development work is expected to require the majority of the capacity of VIEWNET, and to drive its expansion after the initial year. After a four-year period, VIEWNET will be self-supporting, able to operate, update, and expand its facilities and programs using revenue generated by the services it provides (see accompanying budget spreadsheet). The ultimate financial viability of VIEWNET is not very sensitive to the model used to project US industrial participation -- VIEWNET remains viable at much lower or much higher levels of participation, through adjustment of the charge structure for users.

Steps to Implementation

Obtain necessary support (financial, legal) and governmental approvals for establishment of VIEWNET as a non-profit entity, initially in the USA and Russia. Seek formal support of Gore/Chernomyrdin Commission, DoD, NATO, Commerce, State, White House, and Congress.

Establish VIEWNET, Inc., as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable corporation. Select members for Board of Directors, advisory bodies, begin recruitment of top-level and technical planning personnel, in US and FSU.

Hire key personnel for central sites, initial locations. Begin preparation of legal template agreements, assemble training materials.

Initiate campaign to publicize the services to be offered by VIEWNET.

Order equipment for initial sites, network connections, and begin training personnel on use of tools, cross- cultural communications, team-building methods, etc., using existing US facilities.

Begin identifying education/training and demonstration projects in the education/training division.

Install equipment in Ann Arbor, Utah, St. Petersburg, Moscow.

Conduct initial testing, training, using first education/training and demonstration projects as test cases.

Initiate student collaborations and use of instructional modules from US-based academic/industrial partnerships, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the Virtual Automotive College (Michigan), and other universities (not limited to Utah and Michigan).

Approach US industry with demonstrations of VIEWNET technology, and market the capability to employ Russian scientists, engineers and technologists to satisfy unmet US engineering, research and development demands.

Expand the network of available experts in FSU via personal contacts from early participants, visits by VIEWNET staff, establishment of cooperative relationships with FSU universities, institutes, laboratories, companies, etc.

Demonstrate the capabilities to additional HBCUs, other US universities.

Add to network capacity, workstation and videoconferencing capacity as demand grows.

Shift the technology for video connections of US industry, academic partners to the VIEWNET hubs in accordance with developments in available technology.

Seek longer-term contracts for employment of FSU personnel from major industries, shorter-term contracts from small-to-medium-sized companies.

Gradually transition increasing fraction of infrastructure support costs to the user community, becoming self-supporting after four years of operation.

Identify additional sites for expansion and assemble industrial users and usage fees to pay for needed equipment/services.

Budget Notes

The accompanying spreadsheet indicates the projected costs and revenues generated by VIEWNET during its first four (partially subsidized) years, and a fifth, unsubsidized year thereafter. Key points to be noted include:

The requested US government funding for the project is $22.9 million, only a fraction of the value of the infrastructure to be established in the US and FSU. However, the projected benefits in terms of Russian scientists and technicians employed is $78 million, the amount of Nunn-Lugar funds saved by providing appropriate non-defense employment of FSU science, engineering and technology (SET) workers who might otherwise contribute to weapons development in other countries. Infrastructure investment in the FSU is worth $26.6 million under this proposal.

A large initial investment by industry and a smaller amount from government establish the initial infrastructure. That infrastructure is expanded gradually, as program needs and service opportunities appear.

All equipment and software, except for network communications equipment, at all sites in the US, shall become the property of the US participant. All equipment and software for deployment in the FSU, both that purchased with US Governmental funds and that furnished to VIEWNET by its industry partners, will remain the property of VIEWNET. VIEWNET will assign and deliver the equipment to the FSU participating sites, but will not relinquish ownership.

Most US government money is for infrastructure at US academic institutions or to address direct needs of US industry. The small education/training and demonstration projects and the much larger quantity of industry funding provide support for a great many scientists/engineers in the FSU who were earlier involved in the Soviet defense industry. Both the government/industry-supported projects and the industrially-supported engineering/R&D work in Russia using the VIEWNET infrastructure will provide these experts professionally challenging employment which reduces the threat to future world security while helping simultaneously to stabilize the FSU economies, build infrastructure for future economic growth, and ensure a supply of technical personnel prepared for full participation in global ventures.

All personnel expenses shown on the budget planning spreadsheet are INCLUSIVE of fringe benefits and any indirect costs.

The budget item in years two and beyond, called tStaffing Costs, current sitesv, is the continuing cost of the support personnel (and supplies/services at FSU sites) at all VIEWNET sites previously established. Those funds will support (part-time in US, full-time in FSU) two persons at each site: a site operations manager and an education/training coordinator. Small amounts of funding will be available at FSU sites for supplies and services, since those sites will not be able to provide them as US sites will. Those funds will be supplemented by project-based funding under a series of education/training projects, funded initially by the government, and then proportionally more by the user community. Both education/training projects and demonstration projects will primarily employ FSU technical experts rather than VIEWNET personnel, with small amounts, if needed, to support costs of US collaborators.

Much of the Industrial Partner funding will be used to provide infrastructure for technical collaboration in the FSU, broadening the companiesF potential customer base and their value/services to their US customers. However, since the equipment will be owned by VIEWNET, the companies will be eligible for the favorable tax treatment available for donations to a charitable organization in the US, increasing the size of contributions they can realistically afford to make to the program. The continuing VIEWNET ownership is intended to reduce the likelihood that pressure for misappropriation or misuse of the equipment might be exerted on FSU VIEWNET personnel.

Participating US and FSU sites must provide space, operation and maintenance of the space, and security of the equipment at their own cost. Summing estimated costs at various locations (and excluding industry sites), these contributions are estimated as having a worth of $2 million/year in FSU and $4 million/year in the US by year three of the project, but are not charged to VIEWNET or its sponsors, but rather absorbed by the participants.

Demonstration projects will help to identify highly qualified science/engineering experts in the FSU, and to prepare them for future industry-sponsored work. Because these projects must demonstrate potential to attract continued funding, they will tend to meet real US industrial needs in the process. These projects are critical to the success of VIEWNET, as they make it possible for the scientific community near the VIEWNET sites to become expert in the use of VIEWNET tools, and to expose their capabilities to US companies which will want to sponsor continuing work by those scientists and engineers. Participants in those projects may become good candidates for major research granting programs for FSU scientists/engineers (for example, CRDF, ISTC, ISF, etc.). Of course, researchers seeking or obtaining funds for joint US/FSU research from other sources (CRDF, ISTC, etc.) can arrange to use VIEWNET facilities if convenient to them, or to link their own facilities with VIEWNET as resources permit.

Security of data is being furnished by AeroTech Service Group, Inc. which provides data transmission security for McDonnell Douglas to assure appropriate access to corporate data by its suppliers and customers. VIEWNET will use their services to insure US and FSU participants will exchange and have access to only the authorized data. Costs for this are to custom configure AeroTechFs software for each particular site, with licenses to use the base software to be donated by Aerotech Service Group.

Initial assistance to the FSU sites must be provided by a US expert on standards, quality, and design procedures with US industrial experience. One year is budgeted for each FSU site in year one and a half- person year for subsequent sites in the FSU.

VTEL systems are priced turnkey, fully installed in both the US and the FSU, including the first yearFs maintenance. However, prices are higher in the FSU because of higher costs to deliver, install, and maintain in the FSU.

Additional FSU sites will be added to the initial sites (Moscow, St. Petersburg) in years 2-3, with an increasing share of costs borne by the US Industrial Partners and the customers of VIEWNET.

Expansion within the US is inexpensive, primarily using existing network connectivity to reach US industry, additional universities, including HBCUs, and the growing group of urban economic development programs such as The Manufacturing Partnership (Rochester), Fast Track LA, The Cornerstone Partnership (St. Louis), Project HOPE (Cleveland), etc. US companies can use their existing hardware/software/communications equipment to gain access to the VIEWNET, and then to the battery of (now, well-experienced) collaborating laboratories/firms/universities in the FSU. HBCUs, other colleges and universities, and community-based projects will require relatively small amounts of government funding to allow them to participate fully in education/training and product development using the VIEWNET infrastructure.

The rich set of technical, language and cross-cultural training and education materials developed by the academic and industry partners can be used compatibly in the VIEWNET environment, which includes exactly the hardware/software for which the training materials have been and are being developed. Courseware and software for training Russian engineers to use American CAD/CAM/CAE software is already available for this environment. Therefore, there is no cost to the program for development of these materials and teaching methods.

Opportunities for global team design experiences can be supported from the very beginning, using the already existing academic/industry facilities and those of the participating Historically Black Colleges and Universities, at little or no cost to the project.

Any funding for VIEWNET which might become available from the governments of the FSU can be used to expand the infrastructure within the FSU and/or to support additional FSU personnel to improve services within the FSU.

For further information contact Dr. C. William Kauffman , University of Michigan at email address <cwkuaff@engin.umich>

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