The Institute for Manufacturing Systems has established a proven record of success in research advancement. It particularly brings world class expertise in the following four research clusters of excellence. The research and development activities of institute members have been reported in various peer reviewed publications and patents.
Research Clusters
Digital Twins and Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 or Fourth Industrial Revolution is a new term coined to express the use of modern and smart manufacturing tools and techniques to integrate Internet of Things and Machine-to-Machine communication to further increase manufacturing productivity by establishing self-monitoring and self-control of the enterprise-wide processes to enable mass customization with minimum interference of human intervention. In reality, the Industry 4.0 is the trend toward the digitized manufacturing and intelligent automation which embodies and stands for massive data exchange and demands new foundation and principles in the science of data collection, storage, and retrieval technologies which include cyber-physical systems (CPS).
The recent literature released by the US government offices as well as private sectors including National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Science Foundation, RAND Corporation, etc., has clearly emphasized the need to train and build a knowledgeable workforce in advance manufacturing technology. In fact, over the past two months, we have submitted two multi-discipline and multi-university with primary focus on training the next generation of the manufacturing workforce.
Additive & Hybrid Manufacturing
We excel in additive and hybrid manufacturing, focusing especially on metal additive, polymer additive, ceramic additive, hybrid-3D printing, bio-printing, topology optimized designs for additive manufacturing, metamorphic manufacturing, quality assurance, materials-on-demand manufacturing and process–structure–properties–performance studies.
Smart, Autonomous and Data-enabled Manufacturing
We advance research in smart, autonomous and data-enabled manufacturing in the key areas of smart manufacturing, data science for manufacturing, advanced simulations, augmented reality/virtual reality, Internet of Things, sensors, robotics, cybersecurity, sensor fusion, manufacturing processes, and system optimization and analysis.
Precision Surface Modification and Forming Processes
Our work surrounding precision surface modification and forming processes includes machining, thermomechanical processing, the mechanics of manufacturing, tribology, surface modification and rock drilling.
Nanomaterial and Composite Processing
Our nanomaterial and composite processing research focuses on composite synthesis, electrospinning and nanocomposites (for energy and lifeline, thermoelectric material structures and water purification).
