Advanced manufacturing is a top priority for research programs campuswide

In a bustling laboratory at the Fuller E. Callaway Jr. Manufacturing Research Center, a researcher from the Georgia Tech School of Mechanical Engineering is using novel digital technology to cast complex metal parts directly from computer designs, dramatically reducing both development and manufacturing time.

Nearby, at the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, researchers are working with a large U.S. avionics maker to speed new product production using specialized software that automatically generates simulations of the manufacturing process. And across campus in the College of Architecture, a team is working with an international corporation on digital techniques that allow entire concrete walls to be custom-manufactured to architectural specifications.

The Georgia Institute of Technology was founded in 1885 with a mandate to develop manufacturing capabilities in the state of Georgia. Today, researchers whose work directly supports manufacturers can be found throughout Georgia Tech’s academic colleges; in the Georgia Tech Research Institute, which focuses on applied research; and in the Enterprise Innovation Institute, which assists business and industry.

Georgia Tech’s role in supporting industry was highlighted in June 2011 when President Barack Obama named Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson to the steering committee of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP). Georgia Tech joined five other leading universities – the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford University, the University of California Berkeley and the University of Michigan – in the AMP’s $500 million push to guide investment in emerging technologies, increase overall U.S. global competitiveness and boost the supply of high-quality manufacturing jobs.

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