Texas is second only to California in manufacturing jobs and, just like the present energy crisis, there is likely to be a "manufacturing crisis" in the near future.
Product and system design and manufacturing are crucial to wealth creation. The modern global economy has caused many manufacturing operations to move offshore making it difficult to compete in markets for mass manufactured products. Recognizing this is the time to develop leading research programs in manufacturing areas where the United States can maintain a competitive advantage, the Cockrell School is organizing around the themes of mass customization, reliability, managing complex systems and micro and nanomanufacturing. These themes are well aligned with our core expertise in modeling and simulation, small quantity manufacturing and system design.
Our vision is to develop the processes and methodologies where each product is produced on-demand, for the specific needs of an individual user and with limited waste. Where high volume manufacturing uses statistics-based control algorithms, short run manufacturing will need to rely on predictive model based process control with in-process sensing and control.
We also envision interfacing new paradigms for life-cycle maintenance with custom manufacturing based around the pro-active analysis of a system to determine if a defect or failure is likely to occur in the future. This will revolutionize life-cycle planning by avoiding the maintenance and need for replacement inventory.
Research Presentation
Improved rehabilitation and quality of life for those with various neuromuscular and musculoskeletal disorders will be enabled by new manufacturing, design processes and materials development. This will provide superior performance and lower costs for a wide range of applications. Faculty lead: Rick Neptune
