I/UCRC Phase III: Collaborative Research Program for I/UCRC for Lasers and Plasmas

自2005年以来，南方卫理公会大学(SMU)一直是由弗吉尼亚大学领导的激光和等离子体I/UCRC中的一个大学站点。在工业伙伴需求的推动下，SMU在促进激光材料加工的研发工作方面发挥了重要作用。SMU网站的使命是促进和应用业界感兴趣的激光材料加工领域的研发工作，并创造条件，教育和培训能够应对21世纪技术挑战的新一代工程师和研究人员。这项工作得到了设备齐全的实验室和由研究生和研究工程师组成的训练有素的研究团队的支持。工业通过激光和等离子体I/UCRC的存在改变了SMU工程师和研究人员的教育文化。该中心已被用于招收机械工程专业的本科生和研究生，以及与业界建立牢固的关系。在过去的15年里，高质量光束的高功率激光器的制造有了巨大的进步，提高了可靠性和能源效率。新一代激光器如光纤激光器、圆盘激光器和光纤耦合二极管激光器已经在焊接、切割、热处理、添加剂制造、修复等方面得到了应用。新一代激光器的发展速度与工业在其生产线上集成这一发展的能力之间存在差距。也缺乏有能力引进这项新技术的合格人员。先进制造用激光和等离子体研究所致力于为其工业伙伴提供其感兴趣的激光材料加工的研发工作，培训工业领袖、设计师和制造工程师，以及教育新一代工程师和研究人员，以加快相关行业对这项新技术的接受。研究人员和研究生将与来自不同行业的从业人员直接合作，致力于了解高能束与不同材料的相互作用，开发用于控制基于激光的材料加工技术的传感和控制系统，开发焊接难焊接和不同材料的新技术，以及开发能够保护高价值部件免受热、磨损、侵蚀和腐蚀的新表面处理技术。

Southern Methodist University (SMU) has been a university site in the I/UCRC for Lasers and Plasmas, led by the University of Virginia, since 2005. SMU has played a major role in promoting R&D work in laser-based materials processing driven by the need of its industrial partners. The mission of SMU's site is to promote and apply R&D work in laser materials processing that is of interest to industry and to promote the conditions to educate and train new generations of engineers and researchers capable of responding to the technological challenges of 21st century. This work has been supported by well-equipped laboratories and well-trained research teams that consist of graduate students and research engineers. The presence of industry through the I/UCRC for Lasers and Plasmas has been changing the culture in the education of engineers and researchers at SMU. The Center has been used for recruiting undergraduate and graduate students in the mechanical engineering program as well as for building a strong relationship with industry.For the last 15 years, there has been a huge advancement in manufacturing of high-power lasers of high-quality beam with improved reliability and energy efficiency. A new generation of lasers such as fiber lasers, disk lasers, and fiber coupled diode lasers have been finding applications for welding, cutting, heat treatment, additive manufacturing, repair, etc. There is a gap between the speed of development of the new generation of lasers and the capability of industry to integrate this development in their production lines. There is also lack of qualified personnel capable to introduce this new technology. The I/UCRC for Lasers and Plasmas for Advanced Manufacturing has undertaken an effort in providing R&D work in laser-based material processing of interest to its industrial partners, in training industrial leaders, designers and manufacturing engineers, as well as in educating a new generation of engineers and researchers in order to speed the acceptance of this new technology by relevant industry. The researchers and graduate students in direct cooperation with practitioners from diverse industry will work on the understanding of interaction of high-energy beams with different materials, and on the development of sensing and control systems to control laser-based material processing techniques, on the development of new technologies for welding difficult-to-weld and dissimilar materials, and on the development of new surface treatment technologies capable of protecting high-value components against heat, wear, erosion, and corrosion.