Purdue team wins manufacturing processes challenge

A team from Purdue University recently competed in the Reusable Abstractions of Manufacturing Processes (RAMP) challenge from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and received first place.

The team, comprised of EEE Ph.D. student Wo Jae Lee and Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. student Tim Simon, won for their analysis and modeling of a popular additive manufacturing process known as stereolithography (SLA).

SLA works by using light to cure photocurable resins in a matter of seconds layer by layer and is an ideal process due to its high material efficiency while eliminating the need for tooling, cutting fluids, and lubricants.

Focusing on the environmental and sustainability aspects, the team had to create a detailed model describing the manufacturing process.

The students worked under the advisement of Fu Zhao, Associate Professor in Environmental and Ecological Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, and Lin Li, Associate Professor in mechanical and industrial engineering at UIC.

 

More information on the competition:

https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2018/01/ramp-reusable-abstractions-manufacturing-processes