History
Energy and environmental issues will have significant impact on industry in the future. Addressing these issues will require sustainable science and engineering. Sustainable solutions will reduce environmental impact (implementing green technology, improving energy efficiency, and reducing waste), improve long-term economics of industry, and safeguard the public health. Efficient development of sustainable solutions will require a multidisciplinary approach that integrates materials, modeling, and equipment issues in a team environment for research, development and applications work. Nobody currently combines modeling capability, materials suppliers, and equipment manufacturers in a concerted approach to research for development (R4D). These industries require solutions that are well-tested in full scale production and application modes, i.e., prototyping facilities that are not generally available in univeristy-based centers. These are the solutions that our new Institute has been created to pursue.
The IR4TD offers a strong background in the areas necessary to face industry’s newest problems. The fields of specialization include:
- Experimental combustion studies (flame structure, soot formation, phase change mechanisms and propulsion)
- Fire research (building fires, wildland fires, flame spread, flame extinguishment and optical measurements)
- Painting technology research (scale modeling, simulation, surface appearance, paint-spray transfer efficiency and over-spray capturing) (Painting Technology)
- Lean manufacturing system and creativity study
- Scale modeling in engineering (ISSM-VI)