Research activities

• Self-manageable and adaptive cyber-physical systems for manufacturing automation: This research focuses on developing a self-manageable and adaptive cyber-physical systems approach that meets the primary needs of modern manufacturing systems (i.e., disturbance handling, availability, flexibility, and robustness). Our approach focuses on design strategies to support self-management at the device level, with the specific goals of developing techniques and services for self-configuration and self-healing. The aim of this work is to enable manufacturing systems to quickly respond to change while maintaining stable system operation and efficient use of available resources.

• Chair in Design Engineering: The overall goal of this research is to develop an engineering design-based “spine” of courses and learning modules, incorporated into all engineering programs that will develop professional skills in our students. The objective for the Chair in Design Engineering is to facilitate positive change in the way engineering programs are delivered, and in particular, how professional skills are supported and developed through design experiences. Engineering design plays a key role in this vision: in addition to being a key attribute of the professional engineer, design is also a central component of the engineering curriculum. By performing engineering design activities, students are able to integrate what they have learned in traditional lecture/laboratory courses into real-world, open-ended problems, as well as practice important professional skills such as communication and teamwork.