REU Site: Summer Academy in Sustainable Manufacturing

Wayne State University, Detroit MI

Investigators

Abstract

This three-year renewal REU site: Summer Academy in Sustainable Manufacturing is hosted by Wayne State University (WSU). It is becoming increasingly important that undergraduate students have access to opportunities to learn about sustainable manufacturing fundamentals and participate in state-of-the art research in multidisciplinary environments in the digital age. The project objective is to continue to educate undergraduate students about sustainable, advanced manufacturing fields. Each year, ten participating students will develop learning, research, and communication skills under the supervision of faculty mentors from various engineering departments. Target participants for the Summer Academy are students who would traditionally have little access to research opportunities or may not have otherwise considered academic research as a feasible career pathway. They will research various challenging manufacturing sustainability problems, strengthen their communication and networking skills, and become prepared for pursuing graduate studies or industrial positions in the future. In addition, student professional development activities will include career awareness and preparation for pursuing graduate studies in engineering fields. This three-year renewal REU site: Summer Academy in Sustainable Manufacturing is hosted by Wayne State University (WSU). It is becoming increasingly important that undergraduate students have access to opportunities to learn about sustainable manufacturing fundamentals and participate in state-of-the art research in multidisciplinary environments in the digital age. Each year, ten participating students will develop learning, research, and communication skills under the supervision of faculty mentors from various engineering departments. The collaboratively designed research projects include the experimental and computational studies on manufacturing of energy storage materials, semiconductor materials, nanofiber materials, and rare earth materials, process data analytics using digital twins, industrial decarbonization through intelligent system design, intelligent human-robot collaboration in manufacturing and dismantling, mobility technologies for affordable electric vehicles, and entrepreneurial service ecosystem. In all projects, sustainability elements will be discussed, sustainability assessment will be conducted, and solutions for sustainability performance will be sought. The project has a well-designed recruitment plan for students with less access to undergraduate research opportunities to ensure a strong student cohort. This Site is supported in part by funds provided to the National Science Foundation from the Semiconductor Research Corporation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.