REU Site: Summer Academy in Sustainable Manufacturing

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The objective of this renewal Summer Academy in Sustainable Manufacturing REU is to expose undergraduate students to the forefront of sustainable manufacturing research at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, a historical hub of United States manufacturing. The Summer Academy in Sustainable Manufacturing serves a national priority area in advanced manufacturing and sustainability, and offers multi-disciplinary sustainable manufacturing undergraduate research projects. Participants research challenging manufacturing sustainability problems, strengthen communication and networking skills, and are prepared to pursue graduate degrees. Site projects cross-cut materials science, product design, process design, manufacturing systems, and sustainable engineering, and integrate the fundamental approaches of sustainable manufacturing into these areas. The site’s recruitment plan is aimed at attracting a diverse set of students interested in undergraduate research, particularly from underrepresented minority groups, in order to create a vibrant sustainable manufacturing research community. The site’s training model, which provides a dynamic environment for student research and broad communication with a diverse faculty team and industrial practitioners, aims to set an example for other sustainability and sustainable manufacturing communities in the nation. Participants develop self-learning, engineering research, and technical communication skills under the supervision of faculty mentors from the Wayne State Industrial and Systems Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering Departments, in addition to participating in community building activities that include visits to the Detroit Institute of Arts and Charles H. Wright African American History Museum.The REU Site research and training activities prepare participants to be the next generation of sustainable manufacturing engineers and researchers, a field that is continuously growing in relevance and necessity to industry and society, yet severely lacking in expertise. Target participants for the Summer Academy are underrepresented minority students who traditionally have little access to undergraduate research opportunities or may not have otherwise considered graduate studies a feasible career pathway. The REU Site fosters long-term contributions to sustainable manufacturing knowledge from continuing mentor/mentee relationships and undergraduate research project outcomes in eco-friendly batteries, sustainable nano-manufacturing, remanufacturing via additive manufacturing, biofuels production systems, and life-cycle cyber-learning, to list a few. During the 10 week summer program, participants of the Summer Academy in Sustainable Manufacturing participate in five research seminars covering critical areas of sustainable manufacturing research, four skill development seminars that prepare participants for research and graduate programs, three site visits to local manufacturing companies (Ford Rouge Factory, BASF polyurethane manufacturing plant, and Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow, LIFT, institute), and three industry guest lectures that focus on sustainability in large scale manufacturing. Concurrently, participants work in faculty mentor laboratories on next generation sustainable manufacturing research challenges to advance the knowledge of sustainability in manufacturing and experience academic research first-hand.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.