IPB at UConn Tech Park

Innovative Computer Simulations in Manufacturing

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February 23, 2022 | Melanie Noble, UConn Tech Park

Businesses often face the challenge of keeping up with the latest technology to maintain a competitive edge. A web designer needs high-tech software, farmers need high yield fertilizers, a grocer needs accurate and fast scanners, banks need state-of-the art encryption algorithms.

For small and medium-sized manufacturing companies (SMEs), one of the most critical elements to staying ahead in business lies in incorporating newer digital technologies to develop their product and optimize their process.

Application of computer modeling and virtual testing before making a physical prototype can benefit SMEs by lowering design and manufacturing costs. However, these technologies and advanced training come at a high price that put them out of reach for many.

This is where Connecticut Manufacturing and Simulation Center (CMSC) steps in.

CMSC was established at University of Connecticut (UConn) Tech Park in 2016 in partnership with the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), kicking off with a $2.1 million grant. Matt McCooe, CEO of Connecticut Innovations, expressed confidence in CMSC’s capacity for success, saying, “At the earliest stages of company development, efficiency is integral to success .… This center provides manufacturers with UConn’s expertise, which can have a direct impact on their bottom line.”

In September 2021, the center was awarded an additional EDA grant of $1.2 million (2021-2026) with a match from CT DECD of $150,000. As part of this award, CMSC will have the honor of hosting EDA University Center Economic Development Technical Assistance Programs.

headshot Jeongho Kim
Professor Jeongho Kim, Director of Connecticut Manufacturing and Simulation Center

Since its opening, Professor Jeongho Kim, CMSC Center Director, has turned CMSC into an indispensable, state-of-the-art technical shared resource for CT SME computational modeling and simulation. The center has become a foundation for SME innovation and competitiveness in the global economy by training a workforce at a higher level of technical literacy in modeling and simulation. The center has also strengthened its training capability by investing in advanced, high performance 504 HPC computer cores.

To date, CMSC has provided industry support for 40 CT SME manufacturing simulation projects. In addition to modeling capabilities, CMSC has trained a robust workforce pipeline of 1400+ UConn students and 136 working professionals to support the state’s workforce needs.

Kim describes older, outdated manufacturing processes as trial-and-error, time-consuming, and costly. However, with the advanced software modeling now available, the picture has shifted dramatically, and a manufacturing process that once took 1,000 trial and error checks during product design may today take just three or four.

With access to CMSC’s virtual product modeling and process generation and training, SMEs benefit in areas critical to business success: improved quality, reduced time to market, increased productivity, reduced development costs, and manufacturing workforce development.

Kim takes great pride in the center’s achievements. He says, “We are delighted to fulfill the missions of EDA, and to work with Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development to promote economic and workforce development of the State of Connecticut.”

With over 24 years of experience in finite element modeling and simulation, Kim maintains his keen focus and dedication to the CMSC mission “to provide technical assistance to the Connecticut manufacturing community.” He has even greater goals for CMSC in the coming years, stressing that it is vital to continue making this technology available to a manufacturing community that is actively shifting to a future state in Industry 4.0. Shifting modeling from a 3-D realm to a 4-D realm allows for an even more sophisticated modeling algorithm called “digital twinning” (a digital copy of a physical system), driving a new generation of advanced analytics for SME products and processes.

“The CT Manufacturing Simulation Center (CMSC) mission … supports economic development and job growth in our state.  In addition, CMSC’s training of the SME workforce … is an important component of our state’s workforce development strategy.”
– David Lehman, Commissioner, Department of Economic and Community Development

For more information about CMSC and its services, visit cmsc.uconn.edu.

CMSC was established with support from the United States Economic Development Administration and Connecticut Innovations in 2016-2021, and Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development in 2021-2026.

The EDA’s University Center (UC) establishes UCs that support innovation and high-growth entrepreneurship, resiliency, and inclusiveness.

Jeongho Kim is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UConn.

Reliable Data & Realistic Simulations for the Manufacturing Industry

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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.

Manufacturers Proactive in Response to COVID-19

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The COVID-19 pandemic has affected manufacturers in every sector. In the face of disruptions to production and supply chains, disproportionate decreases in product demand and many other challenges, manufacturers are taking a close look at strategies that will help them be better prepared for future pandemics or other disasters. How will they protect their core businesses and keep their companies afloat?

Connecticut Manufacturing Resource Center (CMRC) at Tech Park is working with small- and medium-size manufacturers to develop long term solutions to this critical issue. 

Using funds from a recently awarded $300K EDA CARES Act grant, CMRC is proactively helping companies establish contingency plans for effectively maintaining operations from an off-site location during a crisis. Participating companies receive access to product lifecycle digital technologies that establish a kind of smart backup at Tech Park, a digital twin of a company’s operations that helps ensure minimal disruption.

Joe Luciani, Director of the Proof of Concept Center (POCC) at Tech Park, helps manage the grant. He believes that this vital support is coming at a crucial time, stressing that “The pandemic has severely impacted these companies and they are eager to put safeguards in place.” Hadi Bozorgmanesh, PI for the grant and Director of CMRC, adds with conviction, “Our manufacturing sector is a major source of economic strength for Connecticut and we need to help these organizations find long term solutions as they start to recover from the crisis.”

CMRC is already seeing success. Sunil Agrawal, Vice President of R&D Dynamics Corporation, a manufacturing company in Bloomfield, CT, recently completed the program. He contacted Hadi with gratitude and praise for UConn’s outstanding dedication and support throughout the project. He affirmed his organization’s commitment to implement the recommended changes, and his conviction that “The result will be a company that is not only more efficient and capable, but more resilient in a crisis like the one brought on by the events of the last twelve months.”

UConn is seeking additional partners who will receive funding support in a cost-share arrangement. Contact Hadi Bozorgmanesh, hadi.bozorgmanesh@uconn.edu.

The Enterprise Solution Center (ESC) at UConn Tech Park comprises four research centers: Quiet Corner Innovation Cluster (QCIC), Proof of Concept Center (POCC), Connecticut Manufacturing Simulation Center (CMSC), and Connecticut Manufacturing Resource Center (CMRC).

ESC takes an integrated approach to co-development of technology products and services to support the competitiveness of small and medium manufacturers.