Governor Northam Announces CCAM as a Commonwealth Research Commercialization Matching Fund Winner

“I would like to thank Governor Ralph Northam, the Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund, and the Center for Innovative Technology; CCAM is pleased to be chosen amongst the distinguished awardees,” says CCAM President & CEO, William Powers. “These matching funds will help accelerate innovation for the Commonwealth of Virginia and the future of Advanced Manufacturing.”

“CCAM has been awarded in two categories: life sciences and data analytics,” says CCAM’s Interim Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Jaime Camelio. “This represents a sample of the vast breadth of research achieved here at CCAM.”

The Life Sciences matching award ($99,988) will go to CCAM for Dr. Barbara Boyan’s proposal: Additive Manufacturing of Metal Alloys for 3D Medical Devices.

Dr. Barbara Boyan serves on the CCAM Board of Directors and is the Dean of the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“Our findings have been used by industry to produce machined implants for orthopaedic and dental applications that promote bone formation and long-term stability.  The ability to design patient-specific implants, which advanced manufacturing makes possible, will allow us to provide patients with implants that will be tailored to their particular anatomy and healthcare needs,” Boyan said.

Click here to view VCU’s press release

The Data Analytics matching award ($98,166) will go to CCAM for Dr. Huda Al-Ghaib’s proposal: Advanced Analytics Framework for Deploying Automated Defect Detection in Manufacturing.

“This funding will allow CCAM to build upon prior research to create a deployable framework for advancing a variety of automated non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques. Our work will save the manufacturing industry extensive amounts of time and labor expense by speeding the process and will reduce false indications of defects which lead to material scrap expense. Currently, NDE is typically done manually and does not always report accurate nor repeatable results. A tool for auto NDE is critical to improving results and growing businesses.

For the purpose of automating this process: advancements in sensing, data acquisition, and analysis will be applied along with image/signal processing and machine learning to preform ground-truth generation (for the inspection process) and auto analytics NDE for distinct industrial applications with various inputs and dimensions.

These algorithms will help us generate and evaluate massive amounts of data using different hardware configurations (camera, part pose, and lighting) and software parameters with minimal input from a human inspector,” says Dr. Huda Al-Ghaib, CCAM Adaptive Automation Researcher (pictured).

The Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF) accelerates innovation and economic growth in Virginia by advancing solutions to important state, national, and international problems through technology research, development, and commercialization.

Proposals submitted to CRCF undergo a multi-stage review process. The process includes assessment by subject matter experts (SMEs), followed by evaluation and award recommendations made by the Research and Technology Investment Advisory Committee (RTIAC) to the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) Board of Directors. CIT creates technology-based economic development strategies to accelerate innovation, imagination and the next generation of technology and technology companies.

Since its inception in FY2012, CRCF has announced more than 350 awards totaling nearly $28 million. View the list of recipients.

CCAM’s mission is to solve advanced manufacturing challenges. CCAM provides a resourceful and IP friendly collaborative environment to create solutions for complex advanced manufacturing challenges.  CCAM is the center of an ecosystem where academia, government, and industry partner together to create real economic value. CCAM plays an active role in the development of the most talented manufacturing workforce providing a substantial and diverse educational pathway. CCAM is located in a state-of-the-art research facility in Prince George County, Virginia. For more information, visit: www.CCAM-VA.com

https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/all-releases/2019/june/headline-840963-en.html