ICAMS to award new student research proposals

Last year, the Interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Manufacturing Systems (ICAMS) at Auburn University presented three students from different departments with the center’s first ICAMS Student Defined Research Awards. These students received a paid research position for one year, along with support for the research through faculty advising, materials, machine time, tuition waivers, and travel support for presenting their findings at an appropriately themed conference. They have had significant results through their research in the last year.

Ajay Jayswal, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering, was supported by the award to design and manufacture degradable, recyclable, bio-compatible and renewable composite fabrics through additive manufacturing. These composite fabrics could potentially be used to create pieces for replacing parts of the human body, automobiles, and more.

“We have been concentrating on the flexible additive manufacturing parts and therefore flexible polymers,” explained Jayswal’s advisor and professor of mechanical engineering Sabit Adanur. “It is state-of-the-art research.”

Jayswal has presented his research findings at several conferences and was awarded first place in the Design and Manufacturing Category at Auburn University’s 20^th Annual Elements of Mechanical Engineering Conference. He has published two research papers in Polymer Engineering and Science and the Journal of Thermoplastic Composite Materials.

“ICAMS has provided me a great learning platform to explore my ideas, execute them, produce and publish results in a defined timeframe, and collaborate with different faculty from different departments,” Jayswal said. “It has boosted my confidence and helped me find my place in the research field. With the support of ICAMS, I am able to make a small step toward my research career, which starts by generating ideas, writing a research proposal, securing the funding, producing results and publishing them. ICAMS has played a significant role in realizing my research career potential.” 

Julio Jiménez, a doctoral student in industrial and systems engineering, another awardee working on challenging indoor transportation by drones in a manufacturing environment, has implemented field trials in the Tiger Motors lab in the ISE department. He has shared his research through several avenues, such as the 2022 Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) annual conference in Indianapolis, Ind., the 2022 Auburn Engineering Research Showcase in Huntsville, Ala., and the 2023 Auburn University College of Engineering’s annual E-Day event. The successful implementation of indoor transportation by drones could radically change the transportation of products and materials for manufacturing and the interaction between operators and machines. 

ICAMS assists small and medium-sized manufacturers in the U.S. in adopting advanced technologies associated with Industry 4.0. A large part of this mission includes improving the skills of the next generation of engineers to take full advantage of those technologies, and these awards assist in fulfilling that mission.

ICAMS is now accepting proposals for the next Student Defined Research Awards. Undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing research in advanced manufacturing and Industry 4.0 are encouraged to submit proposals. The call for proposals can be found here. For questions about the application process, please email icams.research@auburn.edu.