The Center for Materials Property Data (CMPD) is a multi-university effort with industry that generates and collects transient materials property data for manufacturing process models and materials behavior discovery. These data are vital to the accuracy of the models and can significantly reduce the high costs and time spent on trial-and-error methods that have been used for years.

The center was established by three academic institutions, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, University of Connecticut, and the University at Buffalo, in cooperation with ASM International. Each academic partner brings unique scientific expertise to the program while ASM International serves as the materials data archive, enabling easy access to data by industry members and non-members.

CMPD is a collaborative, member-driven center. Portfolio projects are proposed by member companies and carried out by the academic members. Member companies help govern the center, have unrestricted access to data, select and share management of data generation projects, and benefit from shared expertise.

CMPD also has access to UConn Tech Park’s state-of-the-art equipment, a tremendous resource for collecting dynamic materials property data. More sophisticated equipment means better data; better data means more reliable models and better predictions of material behavior during processing.

The CMPD approach is becoming a more common trend in industry, with a shift away from the trial-and-error approach for process development and a desire to be able to model and predict materials behaviors.

Executive Director of UConn Tech Park Pamir Alpay is confident the program will continue to thrive and advance the university as a leader in innovation for manufacturing research and materials engineering. “CMPD is a massive project and plays a significant role in everything we’re doing at Tech Park on manufacturing technologies,” he says. “It’s a huge effort that serves a large community and it is making a big impact.”

For more information on CMPD, visit https://cmpd.asminternational.org/home.