With the need to conserve crude oil and other fossil
fuels stocks, manufacturers of transportation vehicles
for civilian and military applications need to reduce
the weight of the materials used to manufacture the vehicles.
Besides being lighter, composite materials can provide
greater tensile strength, corrosion and wear resistance,
durability, malleability and manufacturability than can
metals. While composites offer great potential improvements
for vehicular fabrication, there is a strong need for
personnel who have state-of-the-art knowledge of composites
processing. To address this need, the Michigan State
I/UCRC for Composite Materials and Structures (EEC-9108846)
has collaborated with the University of Delaware (UD)
and the US Department of Defense to create training and
education resources in composites processing, consisting
of accessible tutorials, decision support tools, and
videotaped training modules on liquid and injection molding.
Project results include new teaching laboratories, workshops,
industrial videos, eleven new or modified undergraduate
and graduate-level engineering courses (between MSU and
UD), and knowledge-based systems software used for training.
In addition, several highly effective interactive Web-based
simulations and tutorials were developed, providing a
cost-effective means of disseminating composites processing
knowledge to all Web-connected industrial practitioners
and students. |