...The scientists gathered in a room to hear about some of the issues faced by
one of the biggest industries in the region – one crucial to national defense.
They brainstormed, and then small groups agreed to come up with proposals
to tackle the problems.
...Welcome to the National Composites Research and Development Center at
the University of Southern Mississippi.
...But don’t bother looking for a sign for the new center. It’s not a brick and
mortar building, but rather a virtual center within the Southern Miss School of
Polymers and High Performance Materials. And that’s by design.
...Shelby Thames, the former Southern Miss president who has returned to
active research, said he’d rather the $8.2 million grant from the Department of
Defense be used to buy some $3 million in equipment, hire staff and fund
research projects.
...There are about 50 personnel receiving support – including full, part time
and partial faculty summer salary – from the grant awarded in October. That
includes administrative (faculty and staff), and researchers (postdoctoral
fellows, research associates, graduate students and undergraduates).
...“The challenge is huge but the rewards are immense,” Thames said during a
recent interview.
Background
...It was in October 2007 that the school learned it was getting the grant to
establish the center designed to tackle the issues faced by manufacturers who
use composites as a replacement for steel. It was a natural extension of
another initiative just 10 months earlier, when Southern Miss, two community
colleges and shipbuilders in Gulfport established the marine composites
consortium.
...“The composites work underway, both technically and workforce training,
is tailored to the needs of the consortium,” said Thames.
...Southern Miss personnel, led by Drs. James Rawlins and Phil Dur, held
meetings with shipbuilders who use composites, to determine their most
pressing needs with respect to design, manufacture, and use of advanced
materials. The university group then prioritized the issues and held a
brainstorming session involving the school’s experts.
...“We’re now working on those challenges to find solutions,” said Thames.
The solutions will find their way back to the industries.
...“Our department is much like a major medical complex … We have people
who specialize in a variety of different polymer systems, types, techniques,
fields, methods of investigation,” said Thames.
...“And so we bring these challenges to these scientists and say, OK ladies and
gentlemen, here are these challenges, this is what we need to have answers to,
who in this room has expertise to solve these various problem?” he said.
...“And those who say that wish to be part of the effort to find needed
solutions write a white paper describing the work they propose, provide a
budget, the number of personnel required and the work begins,” Thames said.
...The idea is to provide the industry with solutions that will help the
companies improve their processes and products, lower their costs and
improve their performance.
...“That’s what’s driving our work here,” said Thames.
The expertise
...The center is an outgrowth of the areas of polymer science in which
Southern Miss has established a high level of expertise.
...“If you think about aircraft, naval vessels, autos, construction materials,
sports materials and many other products are being made of composites,” said
Thames.
...Composites are polymers reinforced with a variety of materials, such as
fiberglass and carbon fibers, to name just two. They are far less prone to
corrosion than metals, can be as strong and their lighter weight translates into
lighter ships and aircraft, and that in turn means less fuel consumption.
...“These are the manufacturing components of the future,” said Thames,
who notes that composites have been used for years. But there are areas in
the use of composites that need to be improved.
...“So there are technical issues that must be resolved before we can say we’
ve optimized the use of these materials,” he said.
...One focus of the research is to extend the lifetime of ships and aircraft by
reducing the rate of corrosion and/or oxidation. But that’s just one area of
research.
...The solutions the university finds for the maritime industry would also have
applications in other industries, including aerospace - a field of high interest to
the Gulf Coast - because the topical interests expressed by the shipbuilders are
broad.
...“One of the things we’re doing is we’re looking at the factors that affect
adhesion and bonding. We will understand these phenomenon better and the
progress we make will hopefully translate into better performing composites,”
Thames said.
...“We’re also investigating the phenomenon of corrosion,” he said, which
costs the military billions of dollars each year. Composites corrode, too,
particularly when they’re joined to metal. The key is finding a technique to
join dissimilar materials without having corrosion of either.
Partnering with business
...In addition to helping the industry, it will help Hattiesburg and the broader
region in part by attracting more companies that work with composites to the
region. Thames believes companies will see the benefit of working closely
with a university like Southern Miss.
...Southern Miss has established its Innovation and Commercialization Park to
attract new companies to the area, in particular composite companies that can
work side-by-side with Southern Miss.
...“Southern Miss is a unique institution in that we want to be heavily engaged
with industry. We cherish these type relationships as we understand industry
needs, we have an industrial flavor in our thinking process,” Thames said.
...“Sure we want to know the fundamentals, sure we want to perform the high
level scientific investigations necessary for our knowledge-base, but we also
want to go one step farther. We want to see science in action and in use. We
want to be a partner with industry. We want to help them as we can,” said
Thames.
...He said companies that work with composites need to be associated with
Southern Miss because it’s doing the studies on improving polymers and
working to solve problems.
...“We strive to find solutions to problems in our laboratories and share this
knowledge with our industrial partners, thereby making Mississippi industries
much more competitive than they would otherwise be. They’ll have an upper
hand … and therefore our people should be able to get the contracts, win the
contracts and be successful. And that’s what we want.”
...While it’s unlikely the broader public will be aware of the center’s
achievements, Thames said the military and composites industry players will
know. And that will help them obtain additional funding.
...Thames said the grant will only take the center so far. But he believes if the
center proves its value, additional resources will come. He also hopes for
funding from the state. In either case, soft money will be used from the onset.
...“We would hope that, as we make progress, the federal government would
see a need to continue our efforts on a yearly basis,” said Thames, pointing
out that their work involves issues of national security.
...So will there eventually be a name on the door?
...“We haven’t really thought about it,” said Thames. - David Tortorano, Tcp
April 2008
one of the biggest industries in the region – one crucial to national defense.
They brainstormed, and then small groups agreed to come up with proposals
to tackle the problems.
...Welcome to the National Composites Research and Development Center at
the University of Southern Mississippi.
...But don’t bother looking for a sign for the new center. It’s not a brick and
mortar building, but rather a virtual center within the Southern Miss School of
Polymers and High Performance Materials. And that’s by design.
...Shelby Thames, the former Southern Miss president who has returned to
active research, said he’d rather the $8.2 million grant from the Department of
Defense be used to buy some $3 million in equipment, hire staff and fund
research projects.
...There are about 50 personnel receiving support – including full, part time
and partial faculty summer salary – from the grant awarded in October. That
includes administrative (faculty and staff), and researchers (postdoctoral
fellows, research associates, graduate students and undergraduates).
...“The challenge is huge but the rewards are immense,” Thames said during a
recent interview.
Background
...It was in October 2007 that the school learned it was getting the grant to
establish the center designed to tackle the issues faced by manufacturers who
use composites as a replacement for steel. It was a natural extension of
another initiative just 10 months earlier, when Southern Miss, two community
colleges and shipbuilders in Gulfport established the marine composites
consortium.
...“The composites work underway, both technically and workforce training,
is tailored to the needs of the consortium,” said Thames.
...Southern Miss personnel, led by Drs. James Rawlins and Phil Dur, held
meetings with shipbuilders who use composites, to determine their most
pressing needs with respect to design, manufacture, and use of advanced
materials. The university group then prioritized the issues and held a
brainstorming session involving the school’s experts.
...“We’re now working on those challenges to find solutions,” said Thames.
The solutions will find their way back to the industries.
...“Our department is much like a major medical complex … We have people
who specialize in a variety of different polymer systems, types, techniques,
fields, methods of investigation,” said Thames.
...“And so we bring these challenges to these scientists and say, OK ladies and
gentlemen, here are these challenges, this is what we need to have answers to,
who in this room has expertise to solve these various problem?” he said.
...“And those who say that wish to be part of the effort to find needed
solutions write a white paper describing the work they propose, provide a
budget, the number of personnel required and the work begins,” Thames said.
...The idea is to provide the industry with solutions that will help the
companies improve their processes and products, lower their costs and
improve their performance.
...“That’s what’s driving our work here,” said Thames.
The expertise
...The center is an outgrowth of the areas of polymer science in which
Southern Miss has established a high level of expertise.
...“If you think about aircraft, naval vessels, autos, construction materials,
sports materials and many other products are being made of composites,” said
Thames.
...Composites are polymers reinforced with a variety of materials, such as
fiberglass and carbon fibers, to name just two. They are far less prone to
corrosion than metals, can be as strong and their lighter weight translates into
lighter ships and aircraft, and that in turn means less fuel consumption.
...“These are the manufacturing components of the future,” said Thames,
who notes that composites have been used for years. But there are areas in
the use of composites that need to be improved.
...“So there are technical issues that must be resolved before we can say we’
ve optimized the use of these materials,” he said.
...One focus of the research is to extend the lifetime of ships and aircraft by
reducing the rate of corrosion and/or oxidation. But that’s just one area of
research.
...The solutions the university finds for the maritime industry would also have
applications in other industries, including aerospace - a field of high interest to
the Gulf Coast - because the topical interests expressed by the shipbuilders are
broad.
...“One of the things we’re doing is we’re looking at the factors that affect
adhesion and bonding. We will understand these phenomenon better and the
progress we make will hopefully translate into better performing composites,”
Thames said.
...“We’re also investigating the phenomenon of corrosion,” he said, which
costs the military billions of dollars each year. Composites corrode, too,
particularly when they’re joined to metal. The key is finding a technique to
join dissimilar materials without having corrosion of either.
Partnering with business
...In addition to helping the industry, it will help Hattiesburg and the broader
region in part by attracting more companies that work with composites to the
region. Thames believes companies will see the benefit of working closely
with a university like Southern Miss.
...Southern Miss has established its Innovation and Commercialization Park to
attract new companies to the area, in particular composite companies that can
work side-by-side with Southern Miss.
...“Southern Miss is a unique institution in that we want to be heavily engaged
with industry. We cherish these type relationships as we understand industry
needs, we have an industrial flavor in our thinking process,” Thames said.
...“Sure we want to know the fundamentals, sure we want to perform the high
level scientific investigations necessary for our knowledge-base, but we also
want to go one step farther. We want to see science in action and in use. We
want to be a partner with industry. We want to help them as we can,” said
Thames.
...He said companies that work with composites need to be associated with
Southern Miss because it’s doing the studies on improving polymers and
working to solve problems.
...“We strive to find solutions to problems in our laboratories and share this
knowledge with our industrial partners, thereby making Mississippi industries
much more competitive than they would otherwise be. They’ll have an upper
hand … and therefore our people should be able to get the contracts, win the
contracts and be successful. And that’s what we want.”
...While it’s unlikely the broader public will be aware of the center’s
achievements, Thames said the military and composites industry players will
know. And that will help them obtain additional funding.
...Thames said the grant will only take the center so far. But he believes if the
center proves its value, additional resources will come. He also hopes for
funding from the state. In either case, soft money will be used from the onset.
...“We would hope that, as we make progress, the federal government would
see a need to continue our efforts on a yearly basis,” said Thames, pointing
out that their work involves issues of national security.
...So will there eventually be a name on the door?
...“We haven’t really thought about it,” said Thames. - David Tortorano, Tcp
April 2008
Advanced materials
New center a think tank on steroids?
New center a think tank on steroids?
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