Over the past decade, many of the world’s top corporations and industries have called on researchers to improve existing manufacturing processes and develop new approaches and materials.
“We’re always looking for ways to create new capabilities, improve performance and increase productivity,” says Ming Leu, the Keith and Pat Bailey Missouri Distinguished Professor of Integrated Product Manufacturing at Missouri S&T.
Introducing advanced manufacturing processes is important to the nation’s long-term, sustainable economic growth. U.S. manufacturing accounts for 12 percent of gross domestic product, 70 percent of private R&D spending and 86 percent of exports.
“To me, the hybrid aspect of traditional manufacturing and additive manufacturing is the future for the U.S. to remain competitive,” says Jagannathan Sarangapani, the William A. Rutledge-Emerson Electric Co. Distinguished Professor in Electrical Engineering at Missouri S&T. “This aspect requires skill sets from researchers in a variety of disciplines.”
One of S&T’s four signature areas for teaching and research, Advanced Manufacturing has strengths in the emerging fields of additive manufacturing; energy manufacturing; micro- and nano-scale manufacturing; network-centric and cloud manufacturing; advanced materials for manufacturing; and intelligent, sensor-enabled manufacturing.
For example, S&T researchers are working to create “smart parts” by embedding sensors and communication circuits that allow goods to be tracked throughout the supply chain.
Reviewed 2014-11-03