The University of Kentucky’s Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 29th to celebrate the opening of the Next Generation Additive Manufacturing Research Laboratory (NextGen AMRL), the newest addition to the Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing.
UK is part of a three-way partnership that includes the University of Tennessee and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory that is receiving $24.5 million from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to improve U.S. manufacturing capabilities.
NextGen AMRL features innovative additive and hybrid manufacturing machines, material characterization equipment and systems that facilitate collaborative research among the three partners. UK researchers will work to develop novel materials processing and manufacturing technologies that will result in superior products and components for the DOD, as well as civilian use.
“Being home to one of the most advanced collections of additive manufacturing tools in an academic setting allows the college to establish itself as a leader in this crucial area of research,” said Rudy Buchheit, dean of the Pigman College of Engineering.
Research advances hold promise to address the DOD’s growing needs to maintain global technological superiority by developing higher-performing materials and manufacturing processes. These advancements not only strengthen national security but also contribute to economic growth.
The UK team has identified three primary research areas: advanced additive manufacturing; novel materials development; and modeling and manufacturing processes for extreme environments, such as hypersonic applications.
UK is also working closely with Flash Steelworks, a new multimillion-dollar plant in Bell County, Kentucky, dedicated to a novel material processing method called “Flash Processing.”
Collaborating with Army engineers and scientists, UK researchers are pursuing new nano-structured metal alloys, and advanced composite materials, using scalable, smart and sustainable novel manufacturing methods.
