Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have jointly proposed to establish an NSF Industry University Cooperative Research Center entitled the "Center for Advanced Research in Drying (CARD)". CARD will be a unique center dedicated to assisting U.S. manufacturing industries to become environmentally sustainable through targeted improvements and innovations on the energy efficiency of various drying and relevant heat/mass transport processes. This will assist companies in their mission to reduce costs and improve product quality. CARD has two major thrusts. First, CARD is dedicated to conducting innovative industrially-driven research and development, with a main focus on energy efficient drying processes. Second, CARD will bridge the manufacturing and technology skills gap to create the workforce of tomorrow.
CARD will initially focus on the following industries: food and agricultural processing, bulk chemicals, forestry products, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, and textile. CARD's vision is to assemble a diverse and complementary set of researchers and industrial partners that are uniquely suited to tackle "grand challenge" types of problems. The confluence of the above-mentioned industry sectors will provide unique research opportunities leading to the generation of new knowledge and cross-pollination of ideas. Dissemination of results will be facilitated through the Center member companies as well as through the industry relationships that each collaborating institution has developed (through extensive previous industry and university project work). CARD personnel are committed to promoting cultural diversity, and enhancing the participation of women and underrepresented students and faculty in the Center's work. CARD will take a leadership role in promoting policies that will enhance the nation's goal in promoting advanced manufacturing, improve profitability of participating industries, and develop well-educated, industrially-savvy, highly skilled next generation STEM workforce; this will be pivotal to the US for securing its sustainable manufacturing leadership in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.
