B.6 Facilities (Criterion 6)

The Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering has all its faculty offices, administrative office, and graduate students offices, and nearly all of its laboratories in Black Engineering. Other laboratories are located in Sweeney Hall. Before the move to Black Engineering in November 1999 through January 2000, the department was housed in Engineering Annex which is now demolished to make room for the second phase of the Engineering Teaching and Research Center (ETRC) or Hoover Hall.

The Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering believes in engineering education that combines both theory and practice. As a result, we are very laboratory intensive. The department is committed to providing the students with laboratories equipped with the state-of-the-art equipment in industrial engineering tools and techniques. In recent years, the department has invested significant amount of resources into developing, maintaining, and upgrading its laboratories aimed at providing the students with hands-on experience that would prepare them for seamless entry into the workforce upon graduation. In addition to outright new equipment purchases, our laboratory development effort has been greatly aided by the acquisition of several units of industrial grade equipment from the now dissolved Engineering Research Institute (ERI). ERI was a unit of the College of Engineering that provided technical services to academic units of the college. With the department move to Black Engineering in fall 1999, both the size and quality of our laboratory space has been greatly improved. The move to Black Engineering has also made it possible for the department to collaborate with Mechanical Engineering to jointly operate manufacturing related laboratories. The sharing of certain laboratories has enhanced the standing of both departments by making available to students in the other program equipment not available in their own program and for which the students can benefit educationally. We also see the collaboration as an enabling factor for multidisciplinary projects between students in both IE and ME. An obvious benefit of the collaboration is the increase in the utilization of the resources in the labs.

The department currently has adequate classrooms for instructional purposes. The department offers courses in several buildings, including Marston Hall, Pearson Hall, Howe Hall, Durham Hall, and Black Engineering Building. Additional classrooms will be available in Hoover Hall when it is completed. In Hoover Hall, the College is committed to providing classrooms that will foster active, collaborative learning and teamwork. The classrooms will also be equipped with Internet connections to enable students to bring and use their own personal laptops in classes. The rooms will have the state-of-the-art innovations suitable for learning in the 21^st century and multimedia presentations. Industrial engineering students will benefit from these high tech classrooms when they become available.

A student study area is also provided, along with team rooms which allow a class to break into groups and work in teams. In the near future, interview rooms in Marston Hall will be available for use as additional team rooms.

The following is a list of laboratory facilities in the department in support of the curriculum.

The mission of this lab is to provide a real-world industrial engineering design experience for senior students. The students utilize the lab and the computer and software resources provided to work on their capstone design projects. The capstone design projects are integral to the curriculum of the IMSE Department in that they allow the students to apply knowledge gained from other courses to real-world open-ended engineering design problems. The equipment in the lab consists of 12 computer workstations and work area in which teams work on assigned projects. The main utilization of this lab is for IE441 (Industrial Engineering Design). It is also utilized by other courses such as IE 409, and IE 419 for software instruction and in-class problem solving sessions. In addition, it is used as a general computer lab during evening and weekend hours. IE 441 students utilize the lab at a minimum of 6 hours per week, and other courses combined utilize the lab a total of approximately 4 hours per week. The lab is also used extensively outside of class time.

The Ergonomics Laboratory provides practical experiences, with appropriate instrumentation, to students using ergonomic concepts in task and in systems design. The skills practiced and attained in this laboratory provide students with exposure to designing and evaluating systems’ components for use by human operators through understanding worker/user limitations and capabilities. The following classes utilize the laboratory: IE 271 (10 scheduled lab experiences per semester), IE 471, IE 521 (4 scheduled lab experiences per semester), IE 575 (5 scheduled lab experiences per semester), and IE 576x (4 scheduled lab experiences per semester). The lab has the following major equipment: (1) eight Pentium II computers, (2) two Lafayette Instrument Datagraphs with a variety of instruments, (3) Complex reaction timer system, and (4) Video system (television, VCR, computer link capability). Available software include (1) Microsoft Office, (2) Mannequin, (3) MOST, and (4) MTM.

The Applied Ergonomics Laboratory is used not only for labs exercises in the above courses but also serves as a project area, providing internet access and computing capabilities for assignments in a wide variety of courses.

The mission of this lab is to provide students the exposure to material handling (MH) equipment and how they can be automated through computer controlled. All IE students are expected to have a basic knowledge of material handling in manufacturing as well as having familiarity with most commonly used equipment and their capabilities. Furthermore, through the application of the laboratory facilities, the problem of automating material handling equipment using programmable devices for effective manufacturing is demonstrated and simulated. This lab provides the students with the capability to demonstrate the functionality of commonly available material handling devices. The lab includes a closed-loop conveyor system, robots, and Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs). Presently the lab is used for IE 443 (Material Handling and Automation). Although we are developing the lab to include hands-on lab experiences such as developing programs to control the MH equipment, presently the lab is used on a limited basis for demonstration purposes only

This laboratory supports various computing activities related to operations research and production systems. In addition, the laboratory provides a central location where students enrolled in different operations research and production systems courses interact and exchange ideas. The laboratory supports the IMSE curriculum in several ways. It helps students to enhance their (1) ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering, (2) ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems, (3) ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice. The laboratory has computers and supporting software for Operations Research topics in IE 312, IE 313, IE 341, and IE 419. Sample software includes the Lindo Solver Suite (Lindo, Lingo, and What's Best) and Excel/Awesim.

The mission of the machining laboratory is to provide students with an understanding of machining processes. This mission has two aspects. The first is for students to have hands- on experience in machining to better understand the capabilities and limitations of the various processes. Second, the laboratory allows students to collect data on the processes to assist them in comprehending the science of the processes.

This laboratory is used as part of two of the core classes (IE 248 and IE 448) in the manufacturing track. Machining applications are very widespread in industry. Therefore an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of processes is an essential skill for students in manufacturing. Equipment in the laboratory include (1) 3 Lagun vertical milling machines, (2) 1 Cincinnati horizontal mill machine, (3) 1Radial arm drill press, (4) 1 Monarch 10" engine lathe, (5) 1 American engine lathe, (6) 1Royal engine lathe, (7) 3 Dyna CNC milling machines with PCs and TekSoft CAM software, (8) 2 Dyna CNC lathes with PCs and TekSoft CAM software, (9) 1 Kistler 3 force dynamometer, (10) 1Tektronic vision system to examine chip formation, and (11) 1Surface grinder. Courses that use the laboratory include IE 248, IE 448, and IE 479/579. The laboratory is used for class experiments and assignments.

The mission of the welding laboratory is to provide students with an understanding of welding processes. Through the laboratory, students gain some hands-on experiences in welding to increase their understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the various welding processes. Students also collect and analyze process data to assist them in comprehending the science of the processes.

This laboratory is used in support of one of the core classes in the manufacturing track. Welding is a very important manufacturing process, especially for many manufacturers in the state of Iowa. Therefore, students understanding of welding processes will be an asset if they work for a firm that conducts welding, purchases weldments, or provides service to a firms that produce welded components.

Equipment in the laboratory includes (1) Lincoln 175 GTAW machine, (2) Lincoln Idealarc 600 with NA-5 Automatic Welding System for SAW , (3) Lincoln Wirematic 255 FCAW and GMAW machine, (4) Lincoln PowerWave 450 GMAW and FCAW machine with Synergic 7 wire feeder, (5) Lincoln 125 GMAW machine, (6) Lincoln ProCut 40 Plasma Arc, (7) Lincoln 225/125 SMAW machine, (7) Harris Oxy-Acetylene cutting torch, (8) Weld sample preparation equipment, and (9) Miller Resistance Welder. Students in IE 348 currently use this lab. Student work in groups to conduct 4 laboratory experiments per semester

B.6.7 Metal Casting Laboratory

The metal casting laboratory is a facility aimed at providing the medium for teaching metal casting processes. This way, students’ understanding of the subject is enhanced. The laboratory provides opportunity for hand-on experience for students in metal casting processes as a means to enhance learning. Through process data collection and analysis, opportunities for deeper understanding of the science base of the processes are provided. The data collected also helps the students to characterize process capabilities and limitations

This laboratory is used as one of the core facilities in support of courses in the manufacturing track. Cast components are used by many industries. Therefore an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of casting is an asset for students whose employment would require the use or servicing of cast products. Equipment contained in this laboratory include (1) Pillar 75 Kw Induction Melting Furnace, (2) Inductotherm 35 Kw Induction Melting Furnace, (3) Palmer Continuous Sand Mixer, (4) Lost Foam Casting, (5) Compaction Table, and (6) Green Sand Testing Equipment. The lab is used in IE 348 and IE 479/579. In IE 348, students work in groups to conduct 3 laboratory experiments per semester. For IE 479x/579x, the lab is used extensively in various exercises throughout the semester.

This laboratory supports instructions on topics related to material properties and their methods of measurements. Through the use of the laboratory, students are expected to develop an appreciation for measurement errors. Understanding material performance is very important to all material applications. This understanding is necessary to evaluate manufacturing performance or to evaluate and solve quality related problems. The following equipment exist in the lab: (1) 2 Tensile Testers, (2) 1Brinnell Hardness Tester, (3) 3 Rockwell Hardness Testers, (4) 1 Fatigue Life Tester, and (5) 1 Charpy Impact Tester. The laboratory is used for IE 348 and IE 479/579.

The mission of the polymer processing laboratory is to enhance students’ understanding of plastic injection molding. It provides opportunities for hands-on experience in machine operation and process experimentation. Data collected through laboratory exercises are analyzed and used in teaching the science behind the process. The laboratory supports courses in the manufacturing track. IE 348 uses this facility. It contains a plastic injection molding machine.

This is one of the laboratories that is shared between the Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Before spring semester 2000, the laboratory was wholly owned and operated by Mechanical Engineering department. With the collaborative agreement between the two departments to share manufacturing laboratories, the facility is now shared and maintained by the two departments. Although there is no formal stated instructional mission for this facility in IMSE curriculum, we anticipate it’s integrated into the manufacturing processes courses to provide students an understanding of material response to heat treatment. Possible courses to benefit from this facility include IE 348 and IE 479/579. It contains 4 heat treatment furnaces and various quenching medium and associated equipment

The mission of this lab is to develop laser and other photonics-based micro-fabrication techniques and micro-systems for applications in information technology, biology and health care, materials research, precision agriculture, and non-traditional manufacturing. Given the emerging and interdisciplinary nature of micro-fabrication and micro-systems technique, laboratory research will enhance the traditional manufacturing program in the IMSE department, and provide students with the state-of-the-art knowledge in this promising field. The laboratory has different types of lasers and related advanced instruments such as an oscilloscope, a delay function generator, and other optics. This lab is used for demonstration of laser micromachining for IE 248 each semester.

The service of this laboratory is primarily to support students’ course projects and special activities that require model construction and prototyping of designs that are part of projects. While operating under the supervision of a technician, the laboratory is used by students and project teams to build devices in support of class projects and related activities. The lab allows students to engage in the building of design prototypes to satisfying the requirements on design projects for classes and other special needs involving engineering students organizations. This facility includes a variety of processes that allow for the construction of one-of-a —kind product at one location. The laboratory is consists of machining stations, welding stations, metal forming capabilities, and assembly workstations. Future plans are to expand the facility to have capabilities in electronic assembly, rapid prototyping, and plastic injection molding. Equipment currently housed in the facility include (1) GTAW/SMAW welder, (2) Miller GMAW welder, (3) Powermatic drill press, (4) Clausing Lathe, (5) Vertical bandsaw, (6) Drill press, (7) Lagun mill, (8) Horizontal band saw, and (9) Jet lathe. The laboratory will also support multiple courses, including IE 348, IE 441, and IE 448, in the future.?

This facility is used by the professional machinists and technicians to provide support to the teaching and research functions of the faculty in IMSE and ME Departments. Applications for the laboratory include construction of fixtures or apparatuses for research activities, repair and upkeep of department equipment, preparation of samples for teaching laboratories, development of apparatuses for new laboratory experiments, and the construction of prototype devices for research and instruction. The laboratory currently has the following equipment: (1) Bridgeport EZ Track mill, (2) Harrison M-300 lathe, (3) Lagun Republic lathe, (4) Monarch 10" lathe, (5) Lagun FTV-2S mill, (6) Bridgeport II Interact mill, (7) 2 Drill Presses, (8) 3 Hydraulic and manual presses, (9) 5 Belt sanders and grinders, (10) Metal shear, (11) Ironworker, (12) Punch/roller/notch/brake combination, (13) Vertical bandsaw, (14) Abrasive saw, and (15) Horizontal band saw As a general-purpose facility, the laboratory supports several classes.

The mission of the Product Realization Laboratory (PRL) is to develop techniques to geometrically visualize both product design and manufacturing methods and to seamlessly integrate multiple process models to improve product design and manufacture. New research is focused on multiresolution curve and surface design for superior geometric models with applications in interactive product design and manufacture. Process models are integrated through a multi-agent framework. PRL addresses both conventional manufacturing methods such as computer numerical control (CNC) machining as well as products produced by microfabrication.

The laboratory enhances the understanding of product design and its interdependence with manufacturing techniques. The integration of design and manufacturing is one of the key impact areas. Students in IMSE department are exposed to the state-of-the-art methods in geometric modeling, computer numerical control machining, and process integration in a distributed framework.

The laboratory has high quality Silicon Graphics engineering workstations with ProEngineer and a 3-axis CNC machine. The laboratory is used for instruction in courses IE 348, IE448, IE449x, IE546x, IE542, IE544, IE645.