ICAMS awards first Student Defined Research Awards
Published: May 16, 2022 2:45 PM
By Carla Nelson
The Interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Manufacturing Systems (ICAMS) at Auburn University aims to assist small and medium-sized manufacturers in the U.S. improve the adoption of advanced technologies associated with Industry 4.0 or Smart Manufacturing. A large part of this mission includes improving the skills of the next generation of engineers to take full advantage of those technologies, and the first ICAMS Student Defined Research Awards will help fulfill that mission.
“The ICAMS Student Defined Research Award is a new effort in education and research initiatives of ICAMS Phase II, aiming to foster the creativity and improve the skills of the next generation of engineers by leveraging the world-class research facilities at ICAMS,” said Jia (Peter) Liu, member of the ICAMS Leadership Team and assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering. “Education is a significant part of the ICAMS mission as we want to produce engineers with hands-on experience to create a value-added asset to the industry on day one.”
Recipients of the 2022 ICAMS Student Defined Research Awards included Ajay Jayswal, Catherine Wittekind, and Julio Jimenez Sarda. The ICAMS Leadership Team reviewed several competitive research proposals from various disciplines and selected the three research proposals from these applicants. Ajay Jayswal, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering, will design and manufacture new degradable, recyclable, bio-compatible and renewable composite fabric by additive manufacturing. Catherine Wittekind, a senior in industrial and systems engineering, will experiment with scanning systems, coordinate measurement machine capabilities, and part characteristics to determine optimum outcomes. Julio Jiménez, a doctoral student in industrial and systems engineering, will develop algorithms for indoor transportation by drones in a manufacturing environment, and implement field trials in the Tiger Motors lab in the ISE department.
“We believe these projects are innovative in manufacturing and promising to expand the capabilities of ICAMS and the center’s ability to assist small and medium-sized manufacturers,” Liu said.
ICAMS intends to create research opportunities, such as ICAMS student defined research, to support both graduate and undergraduate students to acquire knowledge and skills of factory operations and advanced manufacturing technologies and take that knowledge and experience into the workforce. Therefore, industry benefits by adding a qualified engineer to their team and having an advanced technology advocate capable of steering their journey to a digital and connected enterprise.
ICAMS will release a call for undergraduate and graduate research proposals focused on advanced manufacturing and Industry 4.0 annually. Awardees will receive a paid research position for the year of their research and support for the research with faculty advising, materials, machine time, tuition waivers for graduate students, and travel support for presenting their findings at an appropriately themed conference.
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Recipients of the 2022 ICAMS Student Defined Research Awards included Ajay Jayswal, Catherine Wittekind, and Julio Jimenez Sarda.
