Center Mission: The University of Michigan Center for Lasers and Plasmas for Advanced Manufacturing (CLPAM) is created to develop a fundamental understanding of laser-aided intelligent manufacturing to reduce lead-time for concept-to-product manufacturing for U. S. industry by:
- Establishing the science base for laser material processing.
- Producing materials with novel properties and developing economical processing methods.
- Transferring this technology to industry by providing an incubator, so that optimal processes and applications can be developed without heavy initial investment by industry.
- Education of university students and industry personnel in the latest technology and basic cross-disciplinary sciences.
Research Program: Study that establishes the science base of manufacturing processes will have a fourfold thrust:
- Mathematical modeling of transport phenomena and phase transformation for laser processing. The modeling approach that will be followed involves step-by-step integration of energy, momentum, and mass transfer with interaction physics of light.
- Sensor development for model validation and in-situ process monitoring and control using optical and acoustic techniques.
- Structure-property relationships for processes developed in this program.
- Evaluation metrics for methods and materials developed at CLPAM.
- Additional research is conducted into specific projects at the request of CLPAM member sponsors.
Center Activities: In addition to participation in CLPAM’s research program, Center personnel engage in transfer of knowledge and data with a wide range of academic and corporate partners. The University of Michigan CLPAM numbers Toyota Motor Manufacturing, North America, General Electric Global Research, IMRA America, Focus Hope, Trumpf, and the National Science Foundation among those currently supporting or directly involved with our mission.
Together with its partners in industry, academia, and state and federal laboratories, the NSF Center for Lasers and Plasmas for Advanced Manufacturing is setting a new standard in research, development and deployment of entirely new es of applications and products using lasers and plasmas in the manufacturing process. (paraphrased from the original Old Dominion University LAM website.)
Center Background: The University of Michigan site, (CLPAM) for the NSF I/UCRC for Lasers and Plasmas for Advanced Manufacturing (LAM) was established in October of 2004 in partnership with NSF and the University of Virginia site (then at Old Dominion University). CLPAM director, Prof. Jyoti Mazumder, Robert H. Lurie Professor of Engineering and Director of U of M’s CLAIM Lab, set to work immediately to locate top level researchers to assist with the cutting edge projects underwritten by the corporate members of CLPAM. At the same time, Prof. Mazumder set in motion the process for increasing the CLPAM membership and funding base.
Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers for Lasers and Plasmas for Advanced Manufacturing
