Missouri University of Science and Technology researchers are working to develop cyber additive manufacturing technology to create new metal materials that are stronger and lighter than conventional ones, which could make manufacturing more efficient and cheaper. The cyber manufacturing technology includes additive manufacturing process modeling, sensor network and seamless process integration.

Dr. Frank Liou, the Michael and Joyce Bytnar Professor of Product Innovation and Creativity at Missouri S&T, and Dr. Jagannanthan Sarangapani, William A. Rutledge-Emerson Electrical Co. Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Missouri S&T, are developing cyber manufacturing technology for 3-D printers to create materials not currently in existence.

An electrical engineer at Missouri University of Science and Technology is using microwave energy to test concrete and rehabilitated aluminum, and in the future her work could lead to safer bridges and aircraft parts.

Dr. Kristen Donnell, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Missouri S&T, studies those materials using an active microwave thermograph (AMT) that highlights flaws that could compromise safety or effectiveness. It works by using microwave energy to heat a defined section of material, which is looked at using infrared thermography imaging. It’s a method of nondestructive testing (NDT) that is fairly undeveloped, Donnell said, but it’s being pioneered at Missouri S&T.

A Missouri University of Science and Technology researcher is working to produce algorithms for cyber-physical systems (CPS) to help bridge the gap between computational and physical systems in an increasingly interconnected world.

A CPS is a system of collaborating computers that control physical entities, such as power systems. The National Science Foundation awarded a team led by Dr. Jonathan Kimball, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Missouri S&T, $333,298 for the project. Also working on the project are Dr. Bruce McMillan, associate dean for research and outreach in the College of Engineering and Computing and a professor of computer science at Missouri S&T; and Dr. Mo-Yuen Chow, professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University.