Design studio, factory and nanotechnology cleanroom among CEI's 'firsts'

A space to design new product ideas, configure the manufacturing systems required to make them, and have them assembled all under one roof will be just one of many “firsts” students will experience when the $112 million Centre for Engineering Innovation opens its doors.

The iDesign Studio and iFactory will allow users to experiment with the entire chain of innovation, according to Hoda ElMaraghy, Canada Research Chair in Design and Manufacturing.

“It’s a factory in a lab,” Dr. ElMaraghy, engineering professor and director of the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Centre, said of the second stage of the system, which will be housed in the new building. “It’s an assembly system. It contains robotic assembly stations, inspection stations, automated retrieval and storage systems, material handling systems. It allows us to not only make things within that factory, but to reconfigure its layout. So if the market needs change in six months, we can reconfigure the whole layout in one hour. Think about that.”

The studio portion will contain state-of-the-art equipment such as multi-touch screens that allow users to graphically interact with their designs and 3D rapid prototyping printers. Students will be able to design and build small consumer goods ranging from watches and desk sets to automotive components. The only other academic setting in the world that currently houses a system like it is the University of Stuttgart.

“This will be the first in North America,” said ElMaraghy. “It will definitely give a very competitive advantage to the university. We’ll be able to attract the best of students and researchers who will want to come and have hands-on experience with this.”

The system will allow student and faculty researchers to interact with real-world industries and convince them of the benefits of reconfigurable manufacturing as a way for them to address increasing consumer desire for greater customization of their products.

“We want to be able to show them so that they believe,” she said.

Another of the building’s firsts will be a nanotechnology clean room, a completely dust-free and vibration-controlled environment where students can fabricate tiny microchips for devices such as sensors used for collision avoidance in many of today’s automobiles. The lab has potential to create an industrial base to support the auto industry as well as the bio-medical sector, said Sazzadur Chowdhury, an associate professor in electrical and computer engineering.

“New market ready prototypes can be commercialized through an established company or through some new start ups,” he said. “The facility will be phenomenal.”

Narayan Kar, a Canada Research Chair in Hybrid Drivertrain Systems, is eager to move his labs into the new building where he’ll continue his work on maximizing the efficiency and range of the electric portion of hybrid vehicle motors. Besides expanded facilities for his research, the lab will include two fully-equipped charging stations for the hybrid and electric vehicles he’ll experiment with.

“Ultimately this is going to be better for our students,” said Dr. Kar, an associate professor in electrical and computer engineering. “Because we are able to accommodate more equipment they will be able to do more hands-on training. This new building will distinguish us from others in terms of student training, the kind of research we’ll be doing, and the infrastructure we will have. It will enhance their skills significantly in the areas of research."

— Stephen Fields