REU Site: Summer Research Experiences in Materials and Manufacturing Engineering for Community

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Proposal No.: 9732046 PI: Es-Said University: Loyola Marymount University ABSTRACT The purpose of establishing a REU Site at Loyola Marymount University is to involve in research undergraduate students who might not otherwise have that opportunity. Community college students from Los Angeles will constitute the target group. A further intention is to make every effort to identify and select students from groups which are traditionally underrepresented in the engineering profession. The research component will focus on investigating the effect of varying the cold rolling modes on the crystallographic texture and mechanical properties of aluminum-lithium alloys and rhenium metal, factors affecting warpage profiles of 7050 aluminum alloy, developing a personal computer-based approach to computer-aided design and manufacturing and determining shrink compensation factors for Rapid Prototyping machines. * Twenty-four students will be organized into four teams during three consecutive summers for a ten-week session each year. Using the Materials and Manufacturing Engineering Laboratories, each team will conduct extensive research using state-of-the-art equipment. * The research equipment includes an NSF-funded x-ray diffractometer with a pole figure attachment, a rolling mill, metal cutting equipment, microhardness machinery, density apparatus, two universal mechanical testing machines, furnaces, two light-optical microscopes, rapid prototyping and computer-aided manufacturing laboratories that will enable students to engage in higher level research. * The faculty and project staff will train students in the safe use of the research equipment in the University's state-of-the-art Materials and Manufacturing Research Laboratories. * Local industrial laboratories have agreed to invite students to tour their research facilities. * The ethics of Materials/N4anufacturing Research practices and procedures for professional engineers will be the focus of weekly workshops for studen ts. The faculty at LMU have extensive experience in engaging undergraduate students in research with significant numbers of students continuing to graduate studies. Joint faculty student research often results in presentations for national and international scholarly conferences and publications in scholarly journals.