Leading Reseachers, State-Of-The-Art Facilities, Unique Multidisciplinary Approach
The Center for Advanced Research in Drying will leverage deep expertise in the areas of drying, manufacturing, and resources. Worcester Polytechnic Institute is one of the nation’s first engineering and technology universities and Illinois is one of the nation’s most distinguished research institutions.
WHAT DISTINGUISHES THIS JOINT UNIVERSITY PROGRAM?
Facilities and Equipment
WPI and Illinois have extensive, specialized laboratory resources for conducting applied and fundamental research, including 12 relevant to CARD engineering and science laboratories across the university campuses.
A Multidisciplinary Approach
The complexity of this challenge will require a multidisciplinary research effort, including various disciplines in engineering, as well as food and agriculture sciences. WPI and Illinois bring all of these research specialties to CARD.
Best in Class Researchers
Research projects will be led by a team of distinguished faculty members. CARD’s vision is to assemble a diverse and complementary set of researchers and industrial partners that are uniquely suited to tackle “grand challenge” problems.
Student Team Members
The Center will rely heavily on the contribution of graduate and undergraduate students in its research projects. This has the added benefit of developing students who are knowledgeable in industrially relevant research. In turn, this will provide recruiting opportunities for industry partners.
Workforce Development
The new concepts discovered by the Center will be incorporated into university course work, educating a new generation of engineers and scientists with the tools necessary to implement sustainable manufacturing practices. Helping build this workforce of the future is yet another advantage that the universities bring to this public-private partnership.
Research Center Experience
Both WPI and Illinois have a proven track record of success with other NSF I/UCRC center programs as the lead or co-lead of four existing centers. This experience will be leveraged to accelerate center program activities.