2OOO年4月1日～19日，笔者赴美国参加了美国国防部JOAP-STC召开的Technology Showcase' 2000状态监测国际会议，并访问了有关学校和研究机构，Technology Showcase系列国际会议是在JOAP状态监刹技术会议的基础上发展起来的，比较集中地展示了美国（尤其是军方）在油液监刺技术领域的研究现状和发展动态。

交通运输工程学科是发展交通事业的重要组成部分。关注学科发展趋势，探讨学科前沿问题，培养学科专门人才，是学科持续发展的关键因素。

根据发动机怠速T作过程的非线性、时变性和不确定性，分析了传统怠速稳定性控制的控制机理及存在的不足，提了一种基于预测的发动机怠速稳定性控制方法--动态矩阵预测控制（DMC）算法，并建立了预测控制模型。试验表明，该预测控制方法能够较好地克服各种不确定性因素和复杂变化对怠速稳定性的影响。

Fractals can be extremely useful when applied to tribology. Obtaining fractal descriptions of engineering surfaces and wear particles requires surface topography information to be measured, digitized and processed. Such procedures can be rigorous. This article compares various methods to calculate profile and surface fractal dimension. Profile fractal dimension is computed using three available methods, corresponding to the yard-stick, the power spectrum and the structure function method. The precision of the three methods is analyzed and compared in this paper. Surface fractal dimension is calculated using the slit island and the box counting method. Both profile fractal dimension and surface fractal dimension are used to describe TiN coating surfaces and wear particles.

Surface characterization, particularly roughness analysis, is very important for a wide range of applications including wear assessment. This paper proposes a set of methods and techniques to acquire appropriate images using confocal laser scanning microscopy, to separate roughness, waviness, and form using wavelet theory, and to characterize surface roughness for engineering surfaces and surfaces of small particles. Two application examples on engineering surfaces and wear particles have been presented in the paper to demonstrate that the method developed in this study can be used to measure surface roughness reliably and precisely. A guide on how to determine the iris size, step size, and objective lens has been scientifically provided according to theoretical analysis and experimental results.