The Center draws on existing resources to support existing and future research. These include:

Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication
Dave Bourell, Director, Joe Beaman, Rich Crawford, Rick Neptune, Kristin L. Wood, Shaochen Chen, Carolyn Conner Seepersad, Harovel Wheat
The focus of this laboratory is the development of innovative manufacturing processing generally termed Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF). SFF encompasses technologies that are capable of producing complex freeform solid objects directly from a computer model of an object without part-specific tooling or knowledge. Such technologies are, for the most part, additive processes and have been termed rapid prototyping, or direct manufacturing. These processes address the rapid creation of models, prototypes, patterns, and limited run manufacturing. In the context of product architecture, the next generation of SFF processes will produce functional components directly from precursor materials. Development and commercialization of these SFF processes will not only result in the ability to fabricate small lot metal components economically but will also provide technologies to fabricate compositionally heterogeneous, geometrically complex components that are extremely difficult or impossible to make by conventional methods. Recent advancements from the UT Laboratory for Freeform Fabrication are leading to the next generation of SFF, especially the areas of functional prototyping, functional testing, and new fabrication methods for optical components, instrumented structures, and multiple-material parts.

UT Manufacturing and Design Laboratory (MADLab)
Co-Directors: Matthew Campbell, Richard Crawford, and, Kristin L. Wood
The focus of this laboratory is the development of methods, techniques, and tools in the support of product development and manufacturing. Research emphases include innovative concept generation, product architecture, product flexibility, computational geometry, optimization, and design for manufacturing. This laboratory includes 10 Unix and NT Workstations, printers, peripherals, and state-of-the-art software applications. Also included in the lab is office space for graduate research assistants, laboratory tables for product dissection and analysis, and manufacturing measurement equipment such as a surface-contact profilometer.

UT Product Development, Prototyping, and Reverse Engineering Laboratory
Co-Directors: Phil Schmidt, Richard Crawford, and Kristin L. Wood
The purpose of this laboratory is to support undergraduate and graduate engineering students in the development of products, prototypes, research hardware, and reverse engineering data of commercial products. This laboratory is divided into three primary facilities: a clean area to perform measurements on products, designs in progress, or other devices; an assembly and tool room for disassembling and assembling products; and a fabrication room for material removal and cutting processes applied to plastics, wood, light metals, and industrial metals. These facilities include approximate $25k in measurement equipment (oscilloscopes, multimeters, accelerometers, tachometers, dynamometers, LabView, etc.), approximately $15k in hand tools and assembly equipment; and approximately $80k in fabrication equipment (CNC Mill, CNC Lathe, table saws, miter saws, sanders, planars, band saws, scroll saws, drill presses, etc.).

Ceramics Processing Laboratory
Facilities for tapecasting, drypressing, laminating, pyrolysis, sintering, and machining of ceramics and ceramic composites.

In addition, share facilities with MF. Becker (ECE) and JW Keto (Physics) for nanoparticle production and nanostructured film deposition. These facilities include:
Excimer Laser Ablation Lab Lab located in the Physics Building Excimer laser 200 Hz, 80 W, KrF (248 nm) laser Laser spectroscopy at nanoscale NSOM and micro-luminescence using both narrow band or femtosecond Ti:Saph laser source Pilot nanoparticle production Powder feed, aerosol generator, ablation cell and
collection onto substrates in technical vacuum Nanoparticle nanocomposite fab. UHV vacuum system with chambers for nanoparticle collection onto substrates, and for PVD using PLD and ion beam sputtering.

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