Purdue University Northwest has opened the doors to a new research center in Hammond to help students explore new innovations for manufacturing.
College officials and community members recently dedicated the new David Roberts Center for Innovation and Design on Indianapolis Boulevard, a few blocks west of the PNW Hammond campus.
The 4,500-square-foot, technology-driven facility provides students the means to focus on synergistic project-based designs. The center was configured optimizing the 3M principle: mobile, modular and maintainable, college officials said.
Niaz Latif, dean of the PNW College of Technology, said the goal of the center is to promote collaborative efforts with key industry partners and pursue faculty grantsmanship and scholarly work. It also will support industry-sponsored senior design projects and give students the opportunity to work as an interdisciplinary team to advance applied research and foster innovation.
The center is named after David Roberts for his significant gifts to Purdue University Northwest through the years. Roberts, a graduate of PNW, served as chairman, president, and CEO of Carlisle Companies Inc.
“Manufacturing education is important for bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States,” Roberts said. “It is my pleasure to be able to support such programs in the college of technology.”
The center will provide space for undergraduate and graduate research projects to find innovations and opportunities to explore applications of new and emerging technologies, the college said. It will include both additive and subtractive manufacturing technologies.
“This center gives faculty members and students the opportunity to provide solutions to our industry partners to be competitive regionally and globally,” said Mohammad Zahraee, associate dean of the college of technology.
