Consortium Partners

UDC  |  MSU  |  HU  |  LU  |  KCNSC  |  Y12  |  ORNL

The AMP3 Consortium consists of 4 MSIs, namely, University of the District of Columbia, Howard University, Morgan State University, and Lincoln University, and 3 Industry partners, namely, Kansas State National Security Campus (KSNSC), Y12 National Security Complex (Y12), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

A pictorial presentation of the consortium is as detailed below:

Additive Manufacturing Post Processing Partnership (AMP3) consortium flow diagram. Green text (MSI collaborations). The red box indicates activities at DOE-NNSA lab and plants. The blue box indicates activities at MSIs. The black box shows industry/lab visiting MSI.

University of the District of Columbia

Overview

The UDC AMP3 team is led by the Principal Investigator (PI), Dr. Pawan Tyagi, with Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs) Dr. Kate Klein, Dr. Jiajun Xu, Dr. Devdas Shetty, Dr. Esther Ososanya, and the Grant Coordinator, Mr. Sampson Addo.

UDC as a lead and member of the AMP3 consortium is striving to establish a pipeline of the skilled workforce while solving the high impact technical problems tackled by the DOE-NNSA lab and industry partners. In with this, UDC formed a Steering Committee of Administrators to facilitate AMP3 consortium and research excellence centers. This committee comprises UDC Chief Academic Officer, Dean of the School of Engineering, Vice-president of Research, Director of the Sponsored Program, Director of Finance, Director of Procurement, Director of Human Resource, and Director of Facility. This committee meets twice a year and directly interact with the PI to hear about major achievements and challenges. This committee is intended to resolve issues promptly to enable funded projects to give the best possible return on investment.

 

Student in the Pipeline

UDC has nine (9) undergraduate and five (5) graduate students engaged in AMP3 related research projects, making a total of 14 students.

 

Research Projects

Based on experience, NNSA industries and laboratories are highly likely to hire underrepresented students with stellar research credentials and internship experience. Research experience makes an HBCU student stand out of the competing pool of candidates with generic degrees in specific majors. Consequently, AMP3 has made intense efforts to start multiple collaborative research projects with the NNSA industry and laboratory partners. AMP3 is taking full advantage of its highly successful and research-active faculty team. UDC is involved in three research projects. Each project provides in-depth research training and skill-building for 2-4 undergraduate, 1-2 graduate students, and 1-2 post-doctoral scholars. Hence each project can accommodate 4 to 8 undergraduates to postdoctoral scholar training directly in line with NNSA-oriented research and workforce need.

 

ORNL, KCNSC and Y12 visiting AMP3 faculty to brainstorm research projects in September 2019, November 2019, and February 2020, respectively.

The table below presents the UDC faculty members, the collaborating industry partners, the undergraduate and graduate students, and their current research projects.

University	Industry	Project	Students
UDC (Kate Klein, Jiajun Xu, Pawan Tyagi)	KCNSC (Lucas Rice)	Project-1: Conduct research on enhancing AM component functionality by producing electroless Nickel thin film coatings.	Wondwosen Demisse (G) Giancarlo D’Orazio (U) Babacar Ndoye (U) Tekele Gemeda(G)
UDC (Pawan Tyagi)	ORNL (Amy Elliot)	Project-2 Conduct research on surface finishing of AM components produced by binder jet method.	Hayden Brown (U) Andrew Grizzle(G) Mikelan Screbo(G)
UDC (Pawan Tyagi)	Y12 (Vincent Lamberti)	Project-3 Molecular Device based sensors and related electrical systems for chemical monitoring system specific to AM components deployment.	Josh Dillard (U) Pius Suh (Graduate) Uzma Amir (PhD)

To buttress the essence of experiential research, an NNSA consortium alumnus from UDC wrote about the importance of undergraduate research experience:

“UDC Mechanical Engineering prepared me for the workforce. There were things I learned in school that I use as foundational concepts today at my job. Most importantly, the research conducted in my last year at UDC set me up to get hired where I am today. I was hired due to my experience in additive manufacturing and most of my lab work at my job consists of AM material characterization.”

 

Research Capabilities

List of research laboratory equipment and facilities – highlighting our research strength

1. EOS M280 Laser Sintering Machine (Metal 3D Printer)
2. Keyence Microscope
3. PhenomXL Scanning Electron Microscope
4. Class 1000 Clean Room
5. Raman Spectrometer
6. Versatat Electrometer
7. Micro-nano Fabrication Laboratory
8. Material Strength Testing Laboratory

Take a virtual tour to learn more about our listed laboratories below

Nanotechnology Fabrication Laboratory

Nanotechnology Measurement Laboratory

Nanoscale Characterization Laboratory

Metal Additive Manufacturing Laboratory

Education

AMP3 faculty and affiliated courses has engaged many students in STEM field and some of the key AMP3 related courses offered in the UDC are:

• CVEN 101 Introduction to Engineering (Instructor Dr. Kate Klein UDC, AMP3 co-PI and Dr. Ludwig Nitsche): In the fall of 2019, 50 students and in the spring of 2020, 15 attended this course. Klein organized project-based education by engaging multidisciplinary group in Robot Design for mass terrain. She mandated that all the project include plastic 3D printed component to perform a task related to space mission (Click here to see a student group presenting their project).
• MECH 302 Research Experience and Technical Communication (Instructor Dr. Kate Klein, AMP3 co-PI and Denise Max). 12 Students participated in KCNSC recommended projects. In summer 2020, 9 students attended this course.
• MECH 485 Advanced Manufacturing (Instructor Dean Dr. Devdas Shetty, AMP3 co-PI): 12 students attended this course in Spring 2020. This course covered the in-depth analyses of control system utilized in manufacturing system. This course is one elective course for undergraduate students pursuing Advanced Manufacturing concentration.
• MECH 492 Capstone Projects in Mechanical Engineering Department: in spring 2020, 14 students attended this course Dr. Jiajun Xu, the co-PI of AMP3 grant coordinated senior capstone projects (Click here to see a presentation of capstone project by students)
• MECH 107 Computer Graphics (UDC NIST adjunct with expertise in CREO) 22 Students attended this course in spring 2020. This course was initiated at UDC after DOE-NNSA industry input about the desired engineering graphics skill sets.
• ELEC 474/MECH 546 Nanotechnology Processes (UDC Dr. Hongmei Dang of Electrical Engineering): (Enrollment 20). This course is designed to teach nanoscale material fabrication and characterization to support Advanced post processing skill development.

 

Outreach

• • Babacar Ndoye, an undergraduate student presenting his research work to students from Columbia Heights High School of Washington, DC, when they visited UDC during Fall 2019 (Click here for video).

• The UDC Team led by Dr. Pawan Tyagi organized a one-day outreach workshop targeting minority high school students in the Washington, DC area entitled “Shaping Human Future with Nanotechnology” Workshop on August 25, 2020. The workshop was attended by twenty-one (21) minority high school students, four faculty guest speakers, and two graduate student speakers. The workshop had 1 student from China, 1 from Nigeria, 1 from Canada, 9 from Washington, DC, and 9 from Virginia. (For more information on the Workshop, check under News and Events).

UDC  |  MSU  |  HU  |  LU  |  KCNSC  |  Y12  |  ORNL

Morgan State University

Overview

The Morgan State University (MSU) team is led by Dr. Michael Spencer, an experienced researcher in engineering.

 

Student in the Pipeline

MSU has engaged five (5) students in AMP3 related research activities.

 

Research Projects

The table provides the MSU faculty member, Industry partner, students, and their research project.

University	Industry	Project	Students
Morgan State University (Michael Spencer)	KCNSC (Rachel Grodsky)	Project-7: Enhancing AM component functionality by producing thin film coatings	Peker Milas Stephan Ward Loic Jephson Maryline Kamaha Asia Wilson

Dr. Michael Spencer is leading the construction of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) reactor system, which will support development of specialized coating on AM components for collaborative research with AMP3 industry partners.

	Dr. Michael Spencer of Morgan State University is working with his AMP3 supported students to set up the CVD reactor facility to support AMP3 mission of research experience-based workforce development mission.

UDC  |  MSU  |  HU  |  LU  |  KCNSC  |  Y12  |  ORNL

Howard University

Overview

Howard University’s AMP3 Team is led by the Principal Investigator, Dr. Grant Warner, and supported by Co-PIs Dr. Hyung Bae and Dr. Gbadebo Owolabi.

 

Student in the Pipeline

HU has engaged ten (10) students in AMP3 related research activities, this is made up 3 undergraduates and 7 graduates.

 

Research Projects

The below is a presentation of HU faculty members, Industry partners, undergraduate and graduate students, and their research project.

University	Industry	Project	Students
Howard University (Gbadebo Owolabi)	KCNSC (Seth White)	Project 4: Investigating effects of the AM process and post process on microstructure and mechanical properties	Arielle Miller (G) Saleah McFadden (U)
Howard University (Hyung Bae)	KCNSC (Seth White)	Project 5: Embedding sensors in metal AM parts. Pressure/temperature sensing for 3D printed vessel using fiber optic sensors	Franchino Chambers (G) Tyra Westbrook (U) Hannah Ellis-Gibbs (U) Ananda Noles (U)
Howard University (Grant Warner)	KCNSC (Rachel Grodsky)	Project 6: Additive Manufacturing of Energy Harvesting Material System (developing multi-consortium collaboration)	Celeste Brown (G) To Be Recruited (U)

 

Education

AMP3 faculty and affiliated courses in HU has engaged several students in STEM field. Some of the key AMP3 related courses offered in HU are the following:

• MEEG 443 – Intro to CAD/CAM (Instructor: Grant Warner, HU co-PI) which incorporates Computer Aided Design and Compute Aided Manufacturing to include Additive Manufacturing, Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Milling, and CNC Turning. Students worked on advanced computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing to include design for additive manufacturing.
• MEEG 350: Computer Aided Engineering (Instructor: Hyung Bae, HU co-PI) Twenty-nine (29) students from Howard University, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, participated in a mini project initiated by KCNSC in the spring semester of 2020. There was a total of seven student groups that participated in the mini project. The research project was part of their classwork, Computer Aided Engineering (MEEG 350 -01).
• MEEG 442 – Senior Project. (Instructor: Grant Warner. HU Co-PI). 21 Mechanical Engineering Seniors Participated in 4 group projects that relied heavily on computer aided design, computer aided engineering, and additive manufacturing. The projects included:
  • The design of a drone for racing (ASME); (add pictures of all these projects)
  • The design of a mechanical switch for rocket launch (Sandia National Labs)
  • The design of autonomous test stand (Vertically Integrated Project)
  • The design of tower building device (ASME)

Outreach

HU organized an AMP3 Summer Immersion Experience for Middle School Outreach Program during Summer 2020. The program, which was divided into morning and afternoon sessions ultimately served 75 students from different parts of the country. The program was online and used zoom and google classroom and students were involved in team-based projects. There were 2 Guest Speakers, Guillermo Melantoni (creator of TinkerCAD) and Dr. Pawan Tyagi (AMP3 Program Director)

UDC  |  MSU  |  HU  |  LU  |  KCNSC  |  Y12  |  ORNL

Lincoln University

 Overview

AMP3 Lincoln University (LU) is led by Donna Stallings and its main goal is to establish a sustainable pipeline for minority students pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics degrees and careers.

 

Student in the Pipeline

LU has engaged fourteen (14) students with graduates of the pre-engineering program in AMP3 related research activities.

 

Research Projects

Lincoln student in MS&T REU Program;

1. Terrell Pickens is virtually designing a compliant mechanism
2. 3D printed watch escapement mechanism with tourbillon

 

Education

Increased scholar participation in on-campus research opportunities. Eight scholars worked under the guidance of research and teaching faculty during quarters one and two. Three new faculty began working with MSIPP scholars on research projects that produced or will produce posters for upcoming STEM conferences.

1. Eugene Boadi-Danquah, Assistant Professor Civil Engineering and researcher – supported mathematics, civil and pre-engineering scholars.
2. Babu Valliyodan, Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics – supported scholars in Computer Information Systems, Biology and Pre-engineering.
3. Felicia Anunoby, Nursing Faculty Researcher – supported Biology and Computer Information Systems majors.

In response to COVID-19, all scholar face to face meetings were held either over the phone or online using Zoom. Scholars received a phone call each week to discuss transition issues in college, course progress, soft skill attainment, smart goals, summer plans, graduate school interests, personal short- and long-term goals, and time management.

 

Outreach

Lincoln University connecting Midwest students to AMP3, organized summer programs in collaboration with KCNSC and ORNL. These summer events were held online, due to COVID-19.

• High School and First-Time freshmen Advanced Manufacturing program – July 6-17 (KCNSC Partner)
  • Lincoln University hosted an Advanced Manufacturing Summer Program for six local residents and incoming freshman from the Kansas City area. The program was presented via Canvas and Zoom by Dr. Boadi-Danquah. Participants used TinkerCAD and received a 3D printer to practice printing and maintenance.
• Middle School Engineering Camp – July 19-31 (KCNSC & ORNL Partner)
  • Lincoln University organized a two-week virtual synchronous middle school camp for 7 local residents. Classes included spatial visualization, TinkerCAD, woodworking, Data Analysis, Oral presentations and Introduction to AM.
• Sophomore Summer STEM Institute- July 19 – 31 (KCNSC Partner)
  • The MOLSAMP Sophomore STEM Institute, hosted at Lincoln University in 2020, is an intensive academic and student success summer immersion program designed to assist underrepresented minority (URM) STEM students with transitioning to their second year of study at a college or university. The Institute accepted 26 minority scholars from across the state of Missouri: July 19 – 31 (KCNSC Partner)
  • KCNSC provided three speakers to host workshops on student development.
  • Imani Ballard – Importance of Soft Skills/Branding
  • KCNSC staff – Resume Review and small group sessions
  • KCNSC staff – Researching future employers, All About Honeywell and DOE Internships
  • Four participants were LU MSIPP scholars.

Lincoln University Visited UDC

Donna Stalling and one STEM faculty member brought 15 students to visit the UDC campus in Washington, DC, from Lincoln University located in Missouri. This was done to expose LU students to available opportunities at AMP3 institutes (UDC, HU, MSU). Click here to see video of the visit.

 

 

UDC  |  MSU  |  HU  |  LU  |  KCNSC  |  Y12  |  ORNL

Kansas City National Science Campus (KCNSC)

The AMP3 team in Kansas City National Science Campus is made up of Amy Moser, Rachel Grodsky, Lucas Rice, Seth White, Cordell Benton, and Glory Vaughn-Walker.

 

Internship

Internships at Industry Partners is very important to ensure that students get hands experience and network with their would-be future employers. In line with this, Babacar Ndoye, an undergraduate student of UDC is interning at KCNSC. Babacar is working on the project that UDC is collaborating with KCNSC as an AMP3 project. His advisor, Lucas Rice, is also the subject matter expert from KCNSC for the UDC-KCNSC joint project. Babacar attends the monthly meeting we have with the KCNSC about the research progress and report his development and skill-building. Babacar will continue the same research when he returns on campus at UDC and will maintain the interaction with his KCNSC intern advisor for the whole year.

 

Research Projects

KCNSC team are involved in five out of the seven AMP3 research projects. For more information on these collaborative projects refer to the research projects tables under UDC, HU and MSU.

 

Education

In education, KCNSC staff have been instrumental in providing training on soft skills to Lincoln University students. For more details refer to education under Lincoln University.

 

Outreach

See meetings under UDC (click here to see video of KCNSC team visit to UDC)

UDC  |  MSU  |  HU  |  LU  |  KCNSC  |  Y12  |  ORNL

Y12 National Security Complex

The AMP3 team in Y12 National Security Complex consist of Vincent Lamberti, Ashley Stowe, and Mathew Smith

Internship

Internships are major channel to expose students where NNSA industries can directly evaluate the HBCU students. Also, students doing internship are expected to continue building their internship related research and skill set at HBCUs to support NNSA industry and HBCUS.

Josh Dillard, an undergraduate student of UDC is doing his internship at Y12. His current internship advisor shares the following feedback about Josh performance during internship.

“Thank you for recommending Josh for this summer. So far, I have been very impressed with his efforts. He is an avid learner, very proactive with initial tasks, and is starting to take on some independence related to engaging with some of the other Development PIs (Bob Bridges, Justin Tokash) for hands-on training with some of the characterization equipment. I’ve noticed he is a meticulous note taker, then seems to go back during the “down-time” and pull the string a bit to find his own answers to the questions he might have. I will follow up later on in his assignment. So far he is working out well and seems to be settling in well to some things that fit both his strengths and interests along with benefitting my projects.”

Research Projects

Vincent Lambert of Y12 is involved in one of the seven AMP3 research projects. For more information on these collaborative projects, refer to the research projects tables under UDC, HU and MSU.

 

Educational Support

Y12 Team comprising Dr. Ashley Stowe, Dr. Vincent Lamberti, Mr. Matthew Smit visited UDC on January 23, 2020 and interacted with >50 students and met UDC co-PIs and key staff.

 

 

 

Y12 team interaction with MECH 107 Engineering Drawing Course Spring 2020

 

UDC  |  MSU  |  HU  |  LU  |  KCNSC  |  Y12  |  ORNL

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is represented by Amy Elliot, an engineer and researcher

 

Internship

There are opportunities for post-doctoral scholars in ORNL (Click here)

 

Research Projects

Amy Elliot of co-supervising/advising 1 undergraduate and 2 graduate students on the research project, “Conduct research on surface finishing of AM components produced by binder jet method” at UDC. The main advisor on this project is Dr. Pawan Tyagi.

 

Educational Support

The ORNL representative for AMP3 is a member of the Advisory Board for Mechanical Engineering of UDC. She is also a thesis committee member.

UDC  |  MSU  |  HU  |  LU  |  KCNSC  |  Y12  |  ORNL