NSF Low Temperature Plasma Workshop on Sustainability: Process, Findings, Path forward

The workshop "Science Challenges in Low Temperature Plasma Science and Engineering: Enabling a Future Based on Electricity through Non-Equilibrium Plasma Chemistry", sponsored by the National Science Foundation and Army Research Office, was held August 2016 with the goal of defining the research challenges and the role of low temperature plasmas in sustainability. The workshop report, available at \underline {http://mipse.umich.edu/nsfworkshop/}, broadly discusses challenges across the discipline, with emphasis on the focus areas of multiphase plasma systems, energy and the environment, biotechnology and food cycle, and synthesis and modification of materials. In this talk, the process and motivation for holding the workshop and the workshop findings will be discussed. The talk will encourage community wide strategic discussion, advocacy for a path forward, and engagement of Federal agencies in this initiative.