The use of advanced composite materials in the aerospace, automotive, electronic, marine, medical, and sporting goods industries has grown considerably over the past 2 decades. Furthermore, it has been estimated that composites growth will exceed 500 of 1990 usage by the year 2000. Although it has become increasingly important for undergraduate students to be exposed to the manufacture and mechanical behavior of these materials by the time they graduate, the present curriculum does not address this important class of materials. In order to address this problem, this project is expanding the curriculum to provide undergraduate students with experience in state-of-the-art methods for the analysis, testing, and manufacture of advanced composite materials. This goal is being accomplished by the establishment of a composite materials laboratory in the college of engineering and the development of an associated course on the mechanics of composite materials. The laboratory not only serves as part of the course, but it also provides a resource for our students to conduct senior design and undergraduate research projects that are related to the manufacturing and testing of these materials. In addition, this effort supports a new area of emphasis in manufacturing engineering that is being developed in the college. By serving as a model, this project is having an impact on undergraduate education in general. In addition, undergraduate research work in the lab is helping to further the state-of-the-art in predicting the behavior of composite materials.
