EAM recently completed a move of all its machining research activities into a new
Integrated Manufacturing Systems Laboratory (IMSL) in the Herbert H. Dow Building.
The NSF Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Machining Systems (ERC/RMS), NSF
Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC), S.M. Wu Manufacturing Research
Center (WuMRC), and other machining-related projects are now located in nearly 20,000 square
feet of renovated space. The CoE Program in Manufacturing (PIM) has also relocated there.
"There are many benefits of bringing these centers and projects together into one integrated
manufacturing research site," says Paul G. Goebel Professor of Engineering Yoram Koren, ERC/RMS
director. "Expensive equipment is shared by our different teams. We can create a leading-edge
testbed. And our consolidated facility presents a united front in machining research, which not
only will lead to even more effective research, but also will create greater visibility for outside
visitors."
The new facility brings together research laboratories and equipment that had been spread
throughout the G.G. Brown and the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) buildings.
It also includes a new testbed that will house state-of-the-art equipment for testing new RMS
ideas and to train industry engineers in how to use RMS techniques and methodologies. MEAM
students are in the process of building the first reconfigurable machine tool for the testbed.
In addition, the new facility has an area for students, complete with advanced computers. This
is especially critical for the ERC/RMS' 40 graduate students and 15 undergraduate students who are
working on 15 different related projects. "These projects fit together like a jigsaw puzzle," says
Koren. "They are individual pieces that create a whole. By working near each other, students can
integrate their different projects into a large system."
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U-M MEAM CPO / Shekinah Errington
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U-M MEAM CPO / Rodney Hill
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U-M MEAM CPO / Rodney Hill
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Top: A view of the "High Bay" from the mezzanine. Middle: This Saginaw Machining
Systems (SMS) Machining Center was the largest piece of equipment transported to the new
Integrated Manufacturing Systems Laboratory (IMSL). Bottom: Workers carefully move the
granite base to the Sheffield Coordinate Measuring Machine.
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