Western Kentucky University (WKU) is committed to achieving and maintaining excellence in teaching through the introduction and application of new knowledge in education, and the integration of research and education. Research conducted at VIKU, especially in the Ogden College of Science, Technology, and Health (OCSTH) is aimed to involve students at graduate and undergraduate level in projects which will not only develop human resources in science, technology and health, but create the next generation of educators, researchers and administrators for both industry and academia. The purpose of this proposal is to establish a Cross-Departmental Workstation Laboratory, supported by a Rapid Prototyping Machine and a Digital Scanner, that will create a `Virtual Factory` environment to involve faculty and students in production-systems related research and the integration of this research into instruction. The laboratory will at the same time provide departments and cross-departmental units either new opportunities or enhanced capabilities in research and research training in a broad spectrum of disciplines. The `Virtual Factory` will create an environment that simulates the part design, design review and analysis, process design, analysis and optimization, and prototyping stages typical in industry. Workstation computers and advanced computer design and analysis softwares will be used during these stages in addition to the Digital Scanner, which will be utilized to convert shop drawings into three dimensional solid geometry in computers, and the Rapid Prototyper, which will provide researchers a plastic prototype of the final design. In addition these activities will be integrated with the existing Flexible Manufacturing Cell established through prior NSF and state funds as well as donations from industry, so that a complete system from part design to final product will be available to interested parties including Federal agencies, industry, research institutions, and public and private organizations. This setting will enable the students and faculty at NWU share, integrate and apply new knowledge in projects on manufacturing production systems with the interested parties. The proposed equipment will also be used in a variety of research projects by faculty and students from a broad spectrum of disciplines for research and research-training. Among these disciplines are computer science, physics, astronomy, mathematics, biology, engineering technology and industrial technology. Some of these projects will require a multi-disciplinary effort which will be greatly enhanced by the availability of the proposed equipment.
