Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing Hosts Research Workshop at Virginia State University

Petersburg, Va., May 26, 2011
– The Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM) today concludes a two-day workshop for members at Virginia State University (VSU) that will determine the scope and direction of the center’s first collaborative research projects. CCAM, which broke ground on a state-of-the-art, 50,000 square-foot facility in March, brings world-class manufacturers together with Virginia’s top research institutions to pool capital and intellectual resources, share ideas and accelerate the transfer of laboratory innovation to business application.

At the workshop, attended by more than 40 people, representatives from CCAM’s industry members (Aerojet, Canon Virginia, Chromalloy, Newport News Shipbuilding, Rolls-Royce, Sandvik Coromant and Siemens), are meeting with representatives from CCAM’s university members, including the University of Virginia, Virginia State University and Virginia Tech. Together, they are discussing business priorities, research capabilities and desired outcomes for the first CCAM core research projects within the center’s two initial focus areas: surface engineering and manufacturing systems.

Core research at CCAM is research that is determined and guided by all members. All data and intellectual property resulting from core research is shared across the CCAM membership. CCAM also will perform directed research, which is member-specific. Directed research results and intellectual property are proprietary to the member that sponsors it.

“This week’s workshop sets in motion the core research projects that make CCAM such a wonderful opportunity for the companies involved, the Petersburg region, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the nation,” said Dr. Keith Miller, president of VSU. “We are thrilled to welcome CCAM’s members to VSU and to see our university and region move forward with advanced manufacturing.”

The workshop also represents the inaugural meetings of CCAM’s primary operational committees, the Technical Advisory Council (TAC) and Industrial Operations Board (IOB). The TAC will rank proposed projects emerging from the workshop and submit the list to the IOB, which will then decide which projects to initiate with funds approved by CCAM’s board of directors.

CCAM anticipates launching the first research projects as soon as July. As the CCAM facility is built, industry and university members will conduct initial research in laboratories at UVA, VSU and VT. When it opens in the spring of 2012, CCAM will house computational and large-scale production labs, as well as open production space for heavy equipment and surface coating processes, including a thermal spraying machine, a directed vapor deposition machine, integrated data acquisition systems and a thermal conductivity measurements system.

“Right here at VSU, CCAM begins to reclaim manufacturing as a powerful economic growth engine,” said David Lohr, executive director and president of CCAM. “While there will always be less-expensive places for the mass-production of goods, CCAM gives this region an opportunity to lead the world in manufacturing innovation that improves business, products and profits.”

For more information about CCAM, its membership and research functions, please visit www.ccam-va.com.

About the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing

CCAM is a research collaboration between the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Virginia State University and manufacturing companies worldwide. Manufacturers join CCAM as members and guide research with university faculty in two focus areas: surface engineering and manufacturing systems. CCAM is building a 50,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art research facility near Petersburg, Va., adjacent to Rolls-Royce’s new jet engine components plant. The CCAM facility is expected to open in 2012. For more information, visit www.ccam-va.com.

Contact: Christian Munson CRT/tanaka for CCAM (804) 675-8151 cmunson@crt-tanaka.com