GAANN Fellowship Program -- Simulation for Advanced Product Development & Manufacturing

This proposal requests funding for fellowships in Design and Manufacturing, in an identified area of national need in engineering, and with an emphasis consistent with recent initiatives within the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The overall objective of this project is to increase the number of wellqualified U.S. citizens obtaining the PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering. The program will be conducted by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, in conjunction with the extensive resources and staff of the Center for Robotics and Manufacturing Systems (CRMS), at the University of Kentucky (UK). The varied background of the faculty, and the extensive facilities of the Department, the Center and the University will provide the Fellowship recipients a unique interdisciplinary research environment related to design and manufacturing. In addition, UK will match the federal contribution with an additional fellowship, and contributions to out of state tuition. The supervised teaching component will provide the fellows an exposure to the teaching aspects of a faculty career. The Department of Mechanical Engineering and the University of Kentucky are well qualified to administer the proposed fellowship program and achieve the stated objectives. The research environment at the University has a national reputation. The Carnegie Foundation has classified the University of Kentucky as a Research University I, one of approximately 45 public institutions in the nation in this category. The University has consistently ranked among the top 60 to 70 institutions based on total federal research obligations; the 1998-99 level of supported research expenditures is more than $140 million, about $1.0 million of which is carried out by the faculty in the Mechanical Engineering Department. The College is 28thin terms of NSF funding levels among public universities. The University of Kentucky is actively seeking and encouraging industry participation and collaboration, and has developed a number of productive relationships with industry over the past several years. The Commonwealth of Kentucky has made major investments in UK's science and technology sectors within the past several years for equipment, renovation, addition of a supercomputer, and the establishment of several Centers of Excellence. The Mechanical Engineering Department will move in to a new ME building in 2001, providing 40,000 square feet for departmental research and education. In addition, within the engineering disciplines, interaction with industry promotes the development of a curriculum and research program responsive to the changing technological needs of our society. The proposed Fellowship Program will build on the existing industry/university relations with particular emphasis on the industry connections which have been established by the Kentucky Center for Robotics and Manufacturing Systems within the College of Engineering. In 1986 the Kentucky General Assembly provided $10 million to build and equip a Center for Robotics and Manufacturing Systems at UK. As a part of the College of Engineering, the Center is funded with an annual recurring budget of $2.6 million to conduct graduate-level academic research of the highest quality, to transmit that knowledge to industry and government, and to support educational efforts in manufacturing. A 60,000 sq. ft. building, which was completed in the fall of 1989, contains laboratories and offices, computer workstations, CAD/CAE/CAM hardware and software, instructional TV classrooms, and TV satellite uplink and downlink equipment.