Digital Manufacturing: Journey to Democratization
Abstract: The subject of his seminar is based on how my 40 years of research have evolved into what I research today. I currently work on democratization of manufacturing, helping smaller manufacturers to bid on and win larger contracts, especially in aerospace and defense industry, with or without an orderly network for search and discovery of individual capabilities. I will focus his discussion on two topics 1. Our efforts on integrating university research and technology transfer, to support small industry needs in Shape Engineering for Advanced Manufacturing (SEAM) and 2. Empowering small manufacturers through the creation of a state-wide ecosystem.
Shape Engineering for Advanced Manufacturing (SEAM) is a blend of innovative technologies, methodologies and expertise designed to provide rapid measurement and manufacturing to support the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) activities of the increasing number of military and commercial aerospace industries within Oklahoma and its neighboring states. SEAM seeks to provide better solutions for shape engineering, metrology, additive manufacturing, and re-manufacturing. As a pilot effort, an unusual, somewhat unique, and very compelling business model was created: the combination of two entities - a research and development center feeding technologies, products and services into a related corporation that determined their best markets, and sold aggressively into those markets. The pilot model identified key challenges in technology investment, export control, intellectual property management, conflicts of interest, and student education. Our successes and challenges will be discussed in this seminar.
This has led to the second topic of discussion: Democratization of Manufacturing. This allows for larger manufacturers to communicate with a wider set of suppliers. This has increased the data-sharing aspects between the different manufacturers. Design files are the primary source for sharing the part design data between different elements of the manufacturing ecosystem, and communicating design intent to manufacturing and inspection. Modern analytics tools and artificial intelligence integration into manufacturing can significantly advance machine recognition of design specification and manufacturing constraints. This talk will discuss how collaboration could be facilitated among multiple vendors across supply chains to enable efficient order procurement, based on capabilities of individual manufacturers.
Biography: Dr. Shivakumar Raman is Morris R. Pitman Professor and David Ross Boyd Professor at the University of Oklahoma (OU) where he has worked for 36 years. He received his PhD from the Pennsylvania State University. He is an elected Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). He has received an OK Innovator of the year in 2009, and was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame in 2016. He has taught more than 5000 Mechanical, Aerospace and Industrial Engineers; and guided the research of more than 200 undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Oklahoma.
His research of the past 40 years spans the field of manufacturing and has focused on such topics as i) measurement and quality of manufactured products ii) adaptive methods for sensing and metrology for improving the efficiency of manufacturing processes, iii) applying process tribology to improve the utilization of manufacturing machines iv) creating substitute materials and manufacturing processes for medical implants and v) process modeling for integrating and characterizing system behavior.
In support of his research activities, he has secured approximately 50 grants and contracts valued at nearly $23 million as a PI/PD or Co-PI. His funding has come from a variety of sources including NSF, NASA, USAF, FAA-DOT, NIST, and aerospace/defense industry such as Boeing and Northrop. He has obtained 14 separate grants from NSF alone, within a total of 28 Federal grants and contracts as a PI or Co-PI. Publications (over 150 including 80 Journal articles) based on his research with his students have appeared in a variety of high impact journals as Wear, ASME Transactions: Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, SME Journal of Manufacturing Processes, and the International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacturing.