Kentucky Advanced Manufacturing Center

The Micro/Nano Technology Center (MNTC) is a class 100/1000 $30 million 10,000 ft2 cleanroom facility and the Huson Imaging & Characterization Laboratory.

The Cleanroom Facility
The University of Louisville’s cleanroom facility is the class 100 / 1000 $30M 10,000ft2 that used for fabrication of novel materials and devices. University of Louisville faculty, other academic institutions and external businesses utilize the facility for research while the MNTC also provides micro and nanofabrication services well beyond its borders.

The Huson Imaging & Characterization Laboratory
The Huson Imaging & Characterization Laboratory (HICL) houses a complete suite of Scanning Electron Microscopes and Atomic Force Microscopes for both imaging and creating novel nano-scale structures. The HICL contains extensive nano-imaging tools together with specialized nanofabrication equipment.

UofL established the Conn Center for Renewable Energy Researchat the J.B. Speed School of Engineering in 2009 in honor of major donors Hank and Rebecca Conn. The Conn Center conducts and facilitates R&D on potentially commercializable renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

Drawing on strengths of academic discipline and commercial pragmatism, the center has earned a reputation for fostering the development of transformational science and accelerating the translation of technology concepts from the lab to pre-commercial scale. Conn Center employs top-notch scientists and engineers as theme leaders for directing these research thrusts and to enable collaborations with faculty researchers and industry partners worldwide.

The Conn Center does work focusing on advanced energy materials, biofuels and biomass conversion, energy efficiency, energy storage, materials characterization, solar fuels, and solar manufacturing.

The multi-disciplinary Logistics and Distribution Institute (LoDI)is dedicated to innovating new delivery processes for organizations shipping goods, services, and personnel around the globe. We produce impactful efficiencies research and prepare students to be leaders in their fields.

A new Center for Organizational Readiness toward Enterprise (CORE) 4.0 has been launched at Speed School of Engineering, focused on helping companies prepare for smart and connected technology such as automation, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. Dr. Faisal Aqlan, Associate Professor, Industrial Engineering, is a co-director of the center along with Dr. Lihui Bai, Associate Professor, Industrial Engineering; Dr. Kunal Kate, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering; and Will Metcalf, Co-investigator and Associate Vice President in the UofL Office of Research and Innovation.Aqlan said to imagine a smart factory, where all the machines can talk to each other and anticipate or even address problems. “Similar changes have happened in logistics and healthcare, where smart, connected technologies have helped increase productivity and accuracy, lower labor costs and improve safety. These technologies can greatly improve operations, but they have to be implemented correctly.”

“Strategy is absolutely critical to success in leveraging these technologies,” said Bai, a center co-director who also leads Speed School’s Logistics and Distribution Institute (LoDI). “Our goal is to help companies understand where they are in terms of readiness — maybe they’re missing infrastructure or the workforce that’s needed to integrate and maintain. Researchers will give them a solid roadmap to where they want to go.”

CORE4.0 will engage three industry sectors including manufacturing, logistics and healthcare, through partnership with Western Kentucky University, Metals Innovation Initiative (Mi2) and Louisville Healthcare CEO Council. The center draws on the combined research strength of the UofL’s LoDI and the Office of Research and Innovation, with the industry expertise of the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council and the Metals Innovation Initiative (MI2).

“UofL and its partners represent significant earned experience and strength in each of these sectors, and with cutting-edge technology,” said Metcalf. “We look forward to working with industry to leverage that strength to enter Industry 4.0.”