Case Western Reserve University and the University of Pittsburgh will launch a joint center this fall that uses cutting edge data-science and materials research to help companies make more reliable and durable products.
The Center for Materials Data Science for Reliability and Degradation (MDS-Rely) is a $3 million center supported by a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the remainder from fees paid by member companies and other organizations, such as government agency labs.
The MDS-Rely Center aims to produce breakthrough research that also benefits the U.S. economy by linking industry innovators, government agency labs, and a world-class, multidisciplinary academic team. The Center also plans to help prepare skilled workers and provide employment opportunities for Case Western Reserve and Pitt students and graduates.
In Cleveland, the Case Western Reserve Center is led by Roger French, the Kyocera Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Case School of Engineering. In Pittsburgh, the site is led by Paul Leu, BP America Faculty Fellow and associate professor of industrial engineering at the Swanson School of Engineering.
The new center is a research extension of ongoing work at Pitt and Case Western Reserve, where French is also director of the Solar Durability and Lifetime Extension (SDLE) Research Center. The SDLE center also focuses on degradation science and designing better, longer-lasting materials and systems.
The MDS-Rely Center, leaning on the combined research power of some 40 faculty members from both institutions, will work with partners to understand how a material’s structural, electronic, chemical, and optical properties change over time, informing both what the materials can do and how their function will change over time.
MDS-Rely has a dozen committed members, some of which have already joined. It expects to continue growing each year as additional organizations join. The work of MDS-Rely will give industry and government partners opportunities to gain from pre-competitive research and science-based improvements.
The Center is also supported by the UPCAM and Case Western Reserve’s Great Lakes Energy Institute (GLEI). It is part of the NSF’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) program created in 1973.
For more information: MDS-Rely
