Research

Penn State named site of Center for e-Design

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The National Science Foundation has approved Penn State as a site for the Center for e-Design, an Industry/University Collaborative Research Center (I/UCRC).

The Center for e-Design works with its members to research and advance solutions to complex problems associated with the design, production, distribution and sustainment of innovative and high quality products and systems that minimize costs and are responsive to the rapidly changing marketplace. 

Directed by Janis Terpenny, Peter and Angela Dal Pezzo Chair and Head of the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Penn State becomes the lead institution within the I/UCRC. Terpenny has named Dan Finke, research associate at the Applied Research Lab, as the site co-director.

“The Center for e-Design will flourish at Penn State, where partnerships with industry and a culture of innovation are highly valued,” said Terpenny. “The interdisciplinary nature of real problems of importance to industry members will call upon expertise from many researchers across the university.”

Penn State becomes the center’s seventh university partner with sites already established at Iowa State University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Buffalo, Brigham Young University, Oregon State University and Wayne State University.

The primary focus of the Penn State site will include the following research areas: crowd-based design, big data analytics, design theory and innovation, collaborative design, design optimization, additive manufacturing, smart manufacturing and model-based enterprise.

“The research focus of the Penn State site will complement the Center’s capabilities quite well,” said Finke. “Faculty and graduate students will engage in basic research that aims to solve the pervasive and evolving issues that companies — and even entire industries — face.

Researchers from several departments, colleges, research centers and institutes across Penn State are set to contribute to the center’s efforts.

The Penn State site will host an Industry Advisory Board meeting April 25-27 at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center, during which researchers will share project results, identify and begin new projects, network with members and discuss center business.

Penn State is the newest addition to the Center for e-Design, a seven-university, 35-plus member NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated April 19, 2017

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