REU Site: Multidisciplinary Research Experience in Advance Manufacturing for Undergraduates

This REU site at Texas State University will focus on providing research experience for undergraduate students in the strategic area of advanced manufacturing, which plays a crucial role in positioning the U.S. manufacturing sector as a world leader. The project will attract, engage, and educate ten undergraduate students each summer from across the nation with an emphasis on recruiting women and underrepresented minority groups.

The REU site offers hands-on multidisciplinary research experience in state-of-the-art research facilities in conjunction with a series of professional development activities and field trips. The unique REU experience provided will play a transformational role in preparing future leaders in the emerging areas of manufacturing. Additionally, the project will provide an entry point for a wide range of students from institutions with limited access to research infrastructure and a strong impetus to pursue graduate school and careers in STEM areas.

The REU Site will expose students to transformative interdisciplinary research related to advanced manufacturing systems, materials, and processes. The specific intellectual merits of this REU site are to:(1) Develop novel techniques based on Machine Learning, simulation, and sensor technologies to improve the robustness, efficiency, and accuracy of robotic systems; (2) Develop innovative data-driven methods for supervisory control and monitoring of manufacturing assets and processes supported by industrial Internet Of Things (IOT) standards and technologies; (3) Apply novel analytical and simulation techniques for Additive Manufacturing process optimization and characterization of mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of 3D printed nanocomposites; (4) Develop advanced techniques based on micro and nanotechnology for prototyping microdevices.

The site will create an innovative model for training the next generation of researchers in the area of advanced manufacturing. Participants will be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to address a broad theme of advanced manufacturing issues with local significance and global implications. A unique combination of rigorous data-driven, physics-based, and experimental research techniques will provide students with a solid basis for undertaking research challenges in STEM fields.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.