F rom concept to application, researchers at Michigan State University's College of Engineering are developing innovative technologies and systems to refine and advance American manufacturing and processing capabilities. Research and development in the areas of manufacturing and processing are conducted by nearly 20 faculty members and their graduate students in the College of Engineering. Manufacturing engineering expertise within the Departments of Mechanical Engineering , Electrical and Computer Engineering , Materials Science and Mechanics , Chemical Engineering , and Computer Science and Engineering is augmented by the manufacturing management expertise of many of the faculty members of The Eli Broad College of Business. Cooperative projects are advanced through the Manufacturing Research Consortium , a formal partnership between the university and member companies, and via the International Technology Incubator , an application-oriented research and technology transfer unit staffed by manufacturing experts from Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Members set the consortium's research agenda by presenting industrial problems to faculty, reviewing their research proposals, and choosing those that best meet their specific needs.
Projects typically span one to two years and seed further work funded from other sources.
Project areas include developing management tools for environmentally conscious manufacturing assessment, designing new industrial processes, optimizing manufacturing scheduling and layout, and others. International Technology Incubator is a framework under which Russian, Ukrainian, and Chinese technology and technical expertise are made available to U.S. industry. It has resulted in the modification and enhancement of dynamic systems simulation software for the U.S. market, and in joint research and testing work sponsored by automotive companies and suppliers. Students gain practical experience in market studies and earn both academic credit and a graduate assistant stipend for their work. This involves the development of new tools to evaluate alternative trade-offs between competing designs.