Title:
Uncovering Knowledge

Speaker:
Sharifu Ura

Affiliation:
Division of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Kitami Institute of Technology, Japan

Abstract:
Real-life problems are becoming increasingly transdisciplinary, and both researchers and practitioners from different disciplines must work together to solve these problems using their combined knowledge. These transdisciplinary problem-solving activities are referred to as co-creation. Consequently, in co-creation, the knowledge gained in one discipline (e.g., engineering) must be shared among other disciplines (e.g., natural sciences, medicine, social science, information science, and education science) and vice versa. However, irrespective of discipline, knowledge creates myriad proximal and distal relationships among human/machine learning, logical inferences, experimental data, analytical results, creative thinking, and cognitive reflections. These complex relationships dictate how knowledge should be defined and represented. Unfortunately, the definition of knowledge varies significantly across disciplines and even fields within a discipline. Moreover, the definitions suggested so far are full of circularity and are not succinct. This makes knowledge of a discipline esoteric to others and, eventually, obstructs co-creation. Nevertheless, epistemology (i.e., theory of knowledge), a branch of philosophy, provides a narrative that might be adopted as a discipline-neutral manifestation of knowledge. In this talk, the author uncovers knowledge and presents an epistemology-based scheme of eliciting knowledge in simple terms. The author argues that knowledge is not static; it has a temporal aspect. A piece of knowledge originates in its creative form and eventually transforms into its definitional, deductive (relations of ideas), or inductive (matter of facts) form. Moreover, the author shows that knowledge becomes more meaningful when different forms of knowledge are integrated into a knowledge map. Utilizing the forms of knowledge suggested by the author for knowledge mapping can speed up co-creation.

Keywords:
Knowledge, Epistemology, Logical Inference, Human/Machine Learning, Co-creation, Research, Practice, Transdisciplinary Approach.

Biography:
Sharifu Ura (Sharif Ullah), an alumnus of BUET and Kansai University, is a full professor in the Division of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at the Kitami Institute of Technology (KIT), Japan. Before joining KIT, he was a full-time faculty member at the Asian Institute of Technology and the UAE University. He leads KIT’s Advanced Manufacturing Engineering Lab and directs the Innovative Manufacturing Center for Education and Research. His teaching/research field is design and manufacturing. The keywords of his current research work are Smart Manufacturing, 3D Printing, Sustainable Product Development, Reverse Engineering, Precision Engineering, and Engineering Education. He mentored more than 200 students coming from many countries. Among other scholarly services, he is serving on the editorial board of many journals, including FACETS, AI, Knowledge, Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing, and Education Sciences.