Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing Builds Core Team

RICHMOND, VA., JULY 24, 2012– The Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM) today announced the hiring of three project leaders who will play critical roles in guiding and performing research projects undertaken in CCAM’s focus areas: surface engineering and manufacturing systems. CCAM is a collaborative research center that brings global manufacturing companies together with Virginia’s top research universities and CCAM’s own expert engineers and scientists. Working together under one roof on challenges common to advanced manufacturing, CCAM accelerates the transfer of research discovery and innovation to commercial, production-line use.

Kevin M. Farinholt, Ph.D., joins CCAM as Project Leader-Manufacturing Systems. As a project leader, Farinholt will take the lead on assigning resources, managing timelines and performing tasks to complete projects in CCAM’s manufacturing systems research program. Additionally, a portion of Farinholt’ s responsibilities will include leading CCAM’s efforts to identify and aggressively compete for federal funding opportunities in CCAM’s focused areas of research. Farinholt, who earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech in 2005, comes to CCAM from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico where he served on the lab’s technical staff leading research in energy, manufacturing and engineering initiatives.

“I’m excited to work so closely with business interests and academic experts in the same lab,” said Farinholt. “The different perspectives will lead to new ideas and incredible results. Managing that process of discovery is going to be a lot of fun.”

Benjamin Zimmerman and Matt Stremler join CCAM as Project Leaders-Surface Engineering and will manage and perform research projects in surface engineering, primarily in coatings and related processes and materials. Zimmerman holds an MS in Materials Science and Engineering from Iowa State University and comes to CCAM from Pratt & Whitney where he worked for more than six years as an engineer developing turbine and combustor coatings. Stremler, who holds an MS in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Virginia, joins CCAM from Newport News Shipbuilding. His background is primarily in polymeric coatings and associated preparation, application and inspection processes.

“Advanced manufacturing demands continuous research and development to remain competitive,” said Zimmerman. “CCAM gives industry a new approach to R&D, one that makes it easier and likelier to develop marketplace advantages. I’m glad to be part of it.”

Research projects in surface engineering and manufacturing systems are underway at member-university labs as CCAM completes construction of a new, state-of-the-art, 60,000 square-foot facility in Prince George County, Va., just south of Richmond. The building, scheduled to open in September, features computational and large-scale production labs, high bay and open production space for heavy equipment and other tools required to explore CCAM’s research focus areas.

CCAM industry members include Aerojet, Canon Virginia, Chromalloy, Newport News Shipbuilding, Rolls-Royce, Sandvik Coromant, Siemens and Sulzer Metco. University members include the University of Virginia, Virginia State University and Virginia Tech.

“CCAM is fortunate to add the caliber of talent Farinholt, Stremler and Zimmerman bring to our research center,” said David Lohr, CCAM’s president & executive director. “They’re experienced, accomplished experts who will immediately impact CCAM’s capability to fulfill its promise to members: transforming research into business advantage quickly.”

About the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing

CCAM is a research-based collaboration between the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Virginia State University and manufacturing companies worldwide. Manufacturers join CCAM as members and guide research leveraging both university faculty and CCAM scientists in two focus areas: surface engineering and manufacturing systems. CCAM is building a 60,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art research facility in Prince George County, Va., adjacent to Rolls-Royce’s jet engine components plant. It will open in September 2012. For more information, visit www.ccam-va.com.

# # #
Contact:
Lauren Llewellyn
CRT/tanaka for CCAM
(804) 675-8153