STEM

Universities Partner on Industry-Focused Research Center

• By Rhea Kelly
• 07/29/21

With the goal of boosting engineering research in the United States, Oakland University, Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville have joined forces to build a collaborative research center focused on composite and hybrid materials interfacing (CHMI), a field with applications in the aerospace, automotive, national security, biomedical, energy and personal protective gear industries. The Industry-University Cooperative Research Center for Composite and Hybrid Materials Interfacing is supported by a $700,000 grant from the National Science Foundation and $900,000 matching funds from industry.

The research center will consist of independent sites at each of the partnering universities, closely coordinated but directed at different economic sectors. The site at Oakland University will focus on automotive applications; Georgia Tech on the aerospace industry; and U Tennessee-Knoxville on infrastructure and the biomedical field.  

"Current lack of dedicated, science-based CHMI research often complicates maintenance, repair and overhaul of safety-critical composite and hybrid material joints. Failures in these joined materials can cause injury and loss of human life," explained Sayed Nassar, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering at Oakland University and director of the OU research center site, in a statement. "Research at this NSF-funded center will identify and develop breakthrough technologies, advanced smart materials, artificial intelligence and software tools, and other methods that will revolutionize the science and technology for joining composite and hybrid materials."