1. Research, Networking, & Service: A Three Part Project
Kathryn L. Ashby, University of Louisville Class of 2016
Networking
Service
For the networking component of my
project, I traveled to Pittsburgh, PA to
attend the Society of Manufacturing
Engineer’s RAPID Technology Conference
and Austin, TX to the Solid Freeform
Fabrication Symposium (SFF). RAPID is the
leading industry conference on Additive
Manufacturing (AM) and SFF is the largest
academic AM research conference. At each
of these conferences
I met with potential
employers for my
upcoming Cooperative Education
Experience for the
spring of 2013.
This December I will be traveling to Cebu
City, Philippines for ten days with a
multidisciplinary group of students under
the direction of the University of Louisville
Office of Student Affairs and professors
from each of the representative academic
units to teach lessons on various
engineering topics to students in four
schools. In addition to teaching, we will be
installing an M100 water purification device
from Waterstep in the most rural school and
assisting in a dental clinic. Additionally, I
will gain exposure to local culture and
customs through various group and
individual activities.
Research
Since the beginning of my undergraduate career I have been
conducting undergraduate research in Additive Manufacturing
and specifically laser sintering of polymers under Timothy Gornet
in the UofL Rapid Prototyping Center. During my time as a
research intern, I have had the privilege to perform research in
collaboration with companies like Nike, the Navy, and Boeing.
Most recently, I completed a project on the “Advanced Process
Controls for the Laser Sintering of
Thermoplastics”
in
collaboration with Paramount, a 3D Systems Company, under a
SBIR grant from the Air Force Research Lab, Materials and
Manufacturing Directorate. This research focused on the
modeling of thermal profiles during the part cake cool down
process in order to reduce part warpage. Plans are in the work
to pursue a second phase of this project in the coming months
analyzing the in build thermal profiles. Furthermore, I will be
presenting this research on behalf of 3D Systems at the National
Additive Manufacturing institute meeting in October of 2013.
Research Funding: Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
SBIR AF121-122 Contract No. FA8650-12-M-5151Proposal No. F121-1221734
UofL Design and Print
UofL Design and Print