Planning Grant: I/UCRC Center for e-Design

Suny At Buffalo, Amherst NY

Investigators

Abstract

PROGRAM DIRECTOR'S RECOMMENDATION IIP 0968982 University of Buffalo-SUNY Lewis The University of Buffalo-SUNY (UB) is planning to join the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) entitled "Center for e-Design and Realization of Engineered Products and Systems (e-Design)" which currently is a multi- university center comprised of Virginia Tech (lead institution), the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and the University of Central Florida. The mission and vision of the existing e-Design Center is to research and develop methods tools that support the realization of a new design paradigm that can be used to develop new engineered products and systems. UB requests funding for becoming a fourth site of the NSF Center for e-Design under the leadership of Professor Kemper E. Lewis. The research efforts at UB will support the e-Design center's long term goal of establishing a new paradigm where products/systems are conceived and produced in a cyber-enabled domain with the full participation of all key stake-holders including designers, manufacturers, engineers, OEMs and consumers. There are three areas at UB with strong technical overlap with the current research program of the existing center. The fourth thrust, motion simulation and its application to transportation, is an excellent and unique niche for this site. The innovative projects in this proposal bridge the four thrust areas and demonstrate the potential for interaction with the other university partners. A multi-disciplinary team including six academic departments is engaged. The research will have broader impact through a strong cohort of industry partners, including medical, foods and infrastructure companies. The research thrusts identified will produce tools useful to a wide range of industries. The proposed effort at UB will contribute to the successful development and preparation of graduate and undergraduate students. Students associated with the Center will receive career development opportunities, attendance of and presentations at interdisciplinary conferences and workshops, as well as training in the ethical conduct of research. The addition of UB also contributes to the diversity of the Center, with 40% of participating faculty being women. The PI and other UB faculty will continue to recruit underrepresented students, including partnering with a number of university programs aimed at providing research opportunities for these students. The diversity efforts are leveraged by partnership with existing programs at UB, such as CSTEP, LSAMP and McNair.