This award is to Purdue University to support the activity described below for 24 months. The proposal was submitted in response to the Partnerships for Innovation Program Solicitation (NSF-05566).
Partners Purdue University, Ivy Tech Community College (Lafayette, IN), Purdue Center for Regional Development, Caterpillar (Columbus, IN), International Truck and Engine (Indianapolis), IN), Delphi (Kokomo, IN), GM Allison (Indianapolis, IN), Rolls Royce (Indianapolis, IN), Bon L Manufacturing (Kentland, IN), Cummins Engine (Columbus, IN), Aerofab (Indianapolis, IN), Honeywell (South Bend, IN), Stellite (Goshen, IN), Rofin Sinar (Plymouth, MI), LSPT (Columbus, OH), Nuvonyx (St. Louis, MO), State of Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, Bethune Cookman College (Dayton Beach, FL), Florida International University (Miami, FL)
The primary objective of the proposal is as follows: its goal is to advance manufacturing techniques by bringing innovations in laser-based manufacturing to bear on US manufacturing processes through partnerships among Purdue University, a local community college, local and state governments, and private industrial companies in Indiana and the US. The partnerships will facilitate technology innovations and implementation, and provide education and training of future necessary workforce, which will strengthen the regional and national economies. The participating industrial manufacturing companies will collaborate with the Center for Laser-based Manufacturing at Purdue University to pursue further development of the key technologies, innovations and commercialization. Together, they will jointly develop a new educational program to educate and train future shop floor workforce in laser-based manufacturing through the partnership with a local community college, Ivy Tech Community College (2 year associate degree program), which is located in Lafayette, Indiana. The partnership with the State of Indiana will provide a significant amount of matching fund to support the proposed PFI efforts. In addition, there will be collaboration with Purdue Center for Regional Development, which will be providing broader level analysis on the business and economic environment and trends facing businesses and will be creating and plugged into networks of businesses. The objectives are (1) discovery and knowledge enhancement of laser-based manufacturing, including laser assisted machining, laser-surface enhancement, laser cladding and laser microfabrication; (2) technology development and transfer to industry to facilitate the innovations and implementation of developed knowledge and processes to help them gain competitive advantages; (3) education and training of scientifically and technologically literate the diverse future workforce including engineering graduate students, undergraduates and technology students.
Potential Economic Impact
The proposed partnerships will to develop systematic and scientific models of laser-based manufacturing processes through combined analytical and experimental investigations so as to facilitate industrial innovations and commercialization.
The intellection merit of the project follows. The research will provide a useful understanding of laser-plasma-material interaction, which is a common problem for other laser processes. Therefore, an improved understanding of laser processing of materials will contribute to the overall advancement of the laser-processing field.
The broader impacts of the activity follow. One of the more rapidly emerging and innovative technological arenas in the global economy is that of laser-based manufacturing and materials processing. This partnership aims to help Indiana and the US maintain or regain competitive advantages in this arena via the development of advanced laser-based manufacturing techniques. The project will also provide education and training of diverse workforce, including graduate students, undergraduates and shop floor workers. The principles and results of laser-based manufacturing processes will be incorporated in the undergraduate manufacturing class, ME363, Principles and Practice of Manufacturing Processes as well as other graduate courses. Involvement of underrepresented students will be pursued through existing programs such as Women in Engineering Program (WIEP) and the Minority Engineering Program (MEP) and the exchange and recruitment programs with Bethune-Cookman College and Florida International University. The development of K-12 outreach materials will be embedded into the undergraduate curriculum through the highly acclaimed Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) Program. Initial projects will include video and interactive animations on laser-based manufacturing.
