Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing, and cognitive computing. Industry 4.0 is commonly referred as the fourth industrial revolution. Meet the researchers seeking solutions in the mobility space.

Robert M. Handler

• Operations Manager/Senior Research Engineer, Sustainable Futures Institute
• Adjunct Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Staff, Chemical Engineering

• 906-487-3612
• rhandler@mtu.edu
• Dow Building 840

Links of Interest

• Sustainable Futures Institute

Research Interests

• Sustainable water and energy systems
• Life-cycle assessment
• Biofuels
• Aquaponics and hydroponics
• Sustainable manufacturing processes
• Nanoscale materials
• Iron chemistry
• Ecosystem Services
• Natural resource economics

Stephen L. Kampe

• Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
• Department Chair, Materials Science and Engineering
• Franklin St. John Chair

• 906-487-2036
• kampe@mtu.edu
• M & M Building 601

Research Interests

• Microstructural mapping in laser additive manufactured titanium
• Modeling and characterization of Nextel® reinforced aluminum metal matrix composites
• Reactive synthesis processes
• Thermomechanical processing
• Co-deformation of multiphase alloys
• Mechanisms of strengthening

Joshua M. Pearce

• Richard Witte Endowed Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
• Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Faculty Advisor, Open Source Hardware Enterprise

• 906-487-1466
• pearce@mtu.edu
• M & M Building 504

Links of Interest

• Pearce Research Group: Michigan Tech Open Sustainability Technology (MOST) Lab
• MOST Lab's free and open-source content
• The Open-source Lab: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs
• Join the MOST research group
• Follow Joshua Pearce on Twitter

Areas of Interest

• Photovoltaic Materials and Electronic Device Physics of Solar Photovoltaic Cells, Solar Energy Systems and Distributed Generation
• Green Engineering: Solar Energy, Sustainable Development, Open Source Appropriate Technology, Waste Recycling, Circular Economy, and Energy Policy
• Open Source Hardware, 3-D Printing, RepRap (self-replicating rapid prototyper), Low-cost Metal 3-D Printing, Distributed Manufacturing, Scientific Hardware

Trisha Sain

• Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

• 906-487-2977
• tsain@mtu.edu
• MEEM 921

Links of Interest

• Faculty Web Page

Research Interests

• Constitutive modeling of materials, focusing on polymers, polymer-composites, coupled physics behavior
• Fracture, damage and impact behavior on materials
• Analysis, design and testing of novel multifunctional lightweight polymer composite materials
• High rate deformation in polymers
• Predictive modeling of fracture in brittle materials
• Biomechanics of artificial tissue and soft interfaces

"The more you do, the more you do."
—George Sanders (my Dad)

Paul G. Sanders

• Patrick Horvath Endowed Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
• Adjunct Professor, School of Information Technology, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment at Deakin University

• 906-487-2339
• sanders@mtu.edu
• M & M Building 603

Links of Interest

• Sanders Publications
• Sanders Funding

Teaching Interests

• Integration of design, ICME tools, Six Sigma, and experiments to create new materials
• Material (Metal) Design: Microstructure design through alloy and processing
• Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME): Thermo-Calc, MAGMASOFT
• Six Sigma: Application of statistical tools to material design; especially designed experiments
• Synthesize new materials through melt, deformation, or additive methods
• Apply design, ICME, statistics, and experiments in undergraduate Capstone Design experiences

Research Interests

• Material Design in aluminum, ferrous, nickel, copper, and zinc systems
• Application of ICME and statistical tools to material design; use designed experiments (especially mixture DOEs and machine learning) to assess thermodynamic and kinetic processing space
• Experimental verification of simulated material designs through metal casting, wrought (extrusion, rolling, drawing, swaging) processing, and/or additive manufacturing
• Design and assess mechanical (tensile/fatigue/creep), electrical (conductivity), wear, and corrosion properties
• Applications in sustainability, transportation (light weighting), efficiency (high temperature stability), and wear resistance (in process surface optimization)
• Research areas: high temperature aluminum, cast iron, and nickel alloys; high strength aluminum, aluminum and steel alloys for wire-based additive manufacturing

Scott W. Wagner

• Associate Professor, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology

• 906-487-1062
• swwagner@mtu.edu
• EERC 319A

Research Interests

• Micro metal forming manufacturing
• Micro scale hydroforming operations

Teaching Interests

• Applied thermodynamics and heat transfer
• Industrial safety management
• Integrated design and manufacturing
• Materials science
• Statics and strength of materials

Xinfeng Xie

• Assistant Professor of Forest Biomaterials, SFRES

• 906-487-2294
• xinfengx@mtu.edu
• Noblet Building 110

Areas of Expertise

• Carbon materials derived from wood, lignin, and cellulose
• Integrated thermochemical conversion and fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass
• Carbon-polymer composites and hybrid materials
• Wood protection and preservation
• Wood properties, quality, and modification