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Planning Grant for Establishing a NSF-Funded
Engineering Research Center (ERC) for
Sustainable Products, Processes and Systems

at the University of Kentucky

                         PI:       I.S. Jawahir, James F. Hardymon

                Co-PIs:         K.E. Rouch, L. Holloway

Project Duration:         One Year (January 1, 2004 – December 31, 2004)

       Organization:        University of Kentucky Research Foundation                                           

Abstract

This award will support the development of a proposal for establishing a NSF-funded Engineering Center
(ERC) on “Sustainable Products, Processes and Systems” at the University of Kentucky in partnership with
other institutions.

Product design and manufacture in the 21st century will inevitably require the consideration of sustainable product/process designs for the manufacture of engineered products and implementation within a manufacturing system. A paradigm shift from the traditional approach of only attending to functionality, cost and time-to-market is needed in order to attain sustainable products, processes and systems incorporating environmentally conscious, energy-efficient, hazard-free, lean manufacturing methods with product maintenance, disassembly, recycling and re-manufacturing concerns.

This ERC will serve as a center of excellence for knowledge generation and dissemination on design and manufacture of sustainable engineered products, and sustainable manufacturing processes and systems. The ERC consists of four synergistic research clusters: RC 1 Sustainable Product Design and Development; RC 2 Sustainable Manufacturing processes; RC 3 Maintenance, Disassembly, Reuse and Remanufacturing of Sustainable Products; and RC 4 Integrated Sustainable System for Product Manufacture. There is a strong synergy among the research activities in the four clusters. Testbeds will be developed to implement and test the new processes, methodologies, and tools generated by the ERC for sustainable design and manufacture of automobile, aircraft, consumer, and biomedical products.

The education programs of the ERC will encompass revitalization of our existing graduate and undergraduate curricula by including sustainability concerns in courses in design for manufacturing, integrated product development, integrated process development, supply chain networks, and manufacturing system design. The proposed ERC will develop programs for community college and high school teachers and students to raise awareness of life-cycle engineering issues. Knowledge will be further disseminated through developing monographs, textbooks and comprehensive ERC Websites.

The ERC will be built on the joint strengths of the University of Kentucky, University of Missouri-Rolla and the University of Rhode Island. The combined expertise from these three universities will be further enhanced by establishing partnerships with several national laboratories along with outreach interactions with selected Kentucky universities and educational institutions. Technical know-how and effective tools/techniques generated by the ERC will be disseminated to industry through workshops, seminars, internships, and co-op programs. An Industrial Consortium will be established with well-defined fee structure and membership benefits. Several companies including GM, Ford, Boeing, United Technologies, Lexmark International will be contacted for their participation in the proposed ERC.