This proposal seeks support for Iowa State University (ISU) to join the NSF IUCRC Center for e-Design as a full university member research site. The Center for e-design is currently comprised of Virginia Tech (lead), Carnegie Mellon University, Brigham Young University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Buffalo.
Iowa State University has faculty and student researchers working in areas that are synergistic with the mission and vision of the existing Center for e-Design. The addition of Iowa State strengthens the presence of the center and its role as a significant national resource capable of the following results: 1) inclusion of a multi-disciplinary viewpoint needed to ensure the development of a new paradigm of excellence in the design of engineered products and/or systems; 2) realization of conceptual modeling tools aimed at reducing design cycle time and ensuring maximum achievement of design goals for human use; 3) realization of an environment for economic and supply chain design optimization; 4) establishment of a critical mass of expertise focused on the development of an e-Design modeling and simulation software platform and virtual prototyping tools, as well as strategies for achieving simulation based acquisition.
The proposed effort will contribute significantly to the successful development and preparation of graduate and undergraduate students. Results of this research effort will be integrated into the educational curriculum to enrich the student learning experiences in design, modeling and simulation, decision analysis, rapid prototyping, manufacturing, and simulation based acquisition courses. Students associated with the Center for e-Design will receive exceptional career development opportunities, as well as training in the ethical conduct of research. The addition of Iowa State University to the Center contributes to the diversity of the Center, with the leadership team and 25% of participating faculty being women, typically underrepresented in engineering. The PI and other ISU faculty plan to continue their long history of recruiting women and minority graduate and undergraduate students. Research and educational findings will be disseminated nationally and have significant broader impact through industrial collaboration and technology transfer.
Iowa State University (ISU) held a strategic planning meeting in February 2012 under the I/UCRC Planning Grant Award for the existing multi-university Center for e-Design. The purpose of the meeting was to present potential research projects and solicit support from companies to become members of the Center for e-Design through the addition of ISU as a full university member research site. In the months leading up to the meeting, ISU faculty provided companies/agencies with general information about the NSF I/UCRC program and specific information about the Center for e-Design to garner interest in attending the meeting. Sixteen companies/agencies attended the meeting. ISU faculty and researchers presented 16 potential projects that could be funded through the Center for e-Design, projects that focused on the expertise and facilities available at ISU. The meeting included an industry workshop where companies/agencies discussed the relevance of the project presentations and the research priorities of industry. A poster session followed where companies/agencies had an opportunity to discuss further details of projects with faculty and researchers. ISU received eight letters of commitment from companies to join the Center for e-Design through ISU. The planning meeting was a success with half of the participating companies/agencies providing letters of commitment and the other half expressing interest in future collaborations with the Center for e-Design.
