AlphaSTAR is pleased to announce the expansion of partnerships with prominent Universities. The new partners include the University of Maine, University of Tennessee – Knoxville, and Wichita State University’s- National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), to name a few.
Working with Universities is a critical step in maintaining AlphaSTAR’s long-standing mission to transfer innovative technology to Academia & Industry. The scope of these collaborations will be focused on Additive Manufacturing process simulation and advanced modeling of composite materials. These partnerships will help accelerate in-house validation and development of AlphaSTAR’ssimulation solutions.
The focus of collaboration with the University of Maine has been on the emerging virtual additive manufacturing technology. “Utilization of GENOA 3DP has enhanced our ability to model extrusion-based additive manufacturing process” says Professor Masoud Rais-Rohani, Chair of Department of Mechanical Engineering. “Such modeling capabilities allow better understanding of the interaction between materials and additive processes that are critical in performing process-informed and sequentially coupled design analysis and optimization.”
Meanwhile, the work with the University of Tennessee Knoxville is geared towards modeling of composite materials. “The primary purpose of our work is to evaluate the physicochemical interaction at the intermolecular level of thermoplastic, and thermoset polyurethane (PU) through the surface and thermal characterization,” says Dr. Uday Vaidya, Governor’s Chair in Advanced Composites Manufacturing. “We approached AlphaSTAR because we knew their simulation software is capable of supporting this type of advanced analysis. Bringing the physical and virtual manufacturing processes together is an important step to satisfy our research needs and eventually industrial applications.”
At the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), the two sides are working together to identify the software’s value add in different areas. “We are excited to begin application of AlphaSTAR’s family of tools at NIAR. Advanced composite modeling capabilities that can augment our existing rolodex of tools are always a value added to the Institute,” says Luis Gomez, Manager – Advanced Virtual Engineering and Testing Laboratories.
Dr. Anil Mehta, Executive Vice President of Business Development at AlphaSTAR, adds, “University partnerships are key to establishing a broader basis for AlphaSTAR’s software use. By encouraging our university partners to leverage the power of AlphaSTAR’s suite of tools, it allows us to utilize the developing, sharing, knowledge, and best practices of our engineering education community. We look forward to the continuation and expansion of our university relationships, which will open the doors for future projects and research collaborations, as well as better prepare students with simulation tools for their first positions out in the field.”
