What is Cybermanufacturing?
Cybermanufacturing framework
Throughout history, the manufacturing industry has been in a continuous struggle to produce high-quality goods at the rate that consumers demand them. While the industrial era has allowed machines to resolve the quantity issue of manufacturing, it has led to an influx of cheap low-quality goods. The new answer can be found through cybermanufacturing. This new concept takes advantage of the advancements in information technology, applying these ideas to the manufacturing process. With a cybermanufacturing model, predictive analytics technologies will assist companies with operational decisions by discovering and highlighting potential issues or changes in machine health and performance. Overall, this system of cybermanufacturing will provide real-time linkage between the status of a company’s factories, current inventory status, and delivery system through a revolutionary “cloud-based service”.
For more information, please refer to:
S. Bukkapatnam and A. Srinivasa. Available: http://tees.tamu.edu/media/197462/cyber-manufacturing-primer.pdf; [2015].
Program Outline
The summer research program on cybermanufacturing is an REU Program (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) with funding provided by the National Science Foundation. Summer 2021 REU program will take place over the 10-week period from June 1 to August 6, and will include undergraduate students from other universities as well as students from Texas A&M. This summer’s program will include 10 students total.
Financially, each participant will be given a weekly $500 stipend. Additionally, travel costs for field trips will be supported and housing will be provided at no cost. Students are responsible for their food expenses.
Participants will be given the opportunity to work alongside faculty and graduate student mentors. After one week of research ethics and lab safety training, each participant will prepare a plan for their individual research project. In the following weeks, participants will attend weekly meetings with mentors to discuss research progress, provide a mid-session progress presentation, and attend industry led seminars and workshops. In the final week of this program, participants will develop a formal poster presentation summarizing the extent of their research.
It is our hope that the students participating in this REU program gain significant knowledge and interest in research ethics, presentation skills, and graduate school while contributing to our ongoing faculty research.
The application process is now open and must be completed by February 15, 2021, however the application review process begins as soon as they are received, therefore early applications are strongly encouraged. To begin the application process, click here.
Focus
- To increase enthusiasm, knowledge and research skills in advanced manufacturing among undergraduate students
- To prepare students with professional skills to enter the STEM/knowledge workforce and/or graduate school
Tentative Schedule of Activities
| Type | Activity Description | Week |
| Research |
Welcome/ Orientation by College of Engineering and UGR Research ethics and lab safety training, research kick-off meetings |
1 |
|
Work on research projects, weekly meetings with mentors Field trip to a Manufacturing Plant in Houston, Texas |
2-9 2 |
|
|
Student research progress presentation (working lunch) Faculty research seminar |
4 4-6 |
|
| Meeting for formative assessment. | 6 | |
|
Draft research report/presentations/Technical writing help Faculty research Seminar |
8-9 9 |
|
|
Engineering Summer Research Poster Symposium Exit interview |
10 | |
| Enrichment | Industry led seminars, peer mentoring discussions, brown bag research meetings, presentation skills, research ethics | 2-3,5-9 |
| Panel discussions on Graduate School applications | 5 | |
| USRG GRE Workshops | 6-8 | |
| Attend REU Students Invent | End of 4 |
In view of the pandemic concerns, the program plans to offer both on-campus and virtual sections. The students will have the option of choosing between one of the two sections. In the event of a COVID related disruption, the students enrolled in the on-campus section will be automatically rolled into the virtual REU section.