Increased access to data, computational tools, and community expertise is accelerating the pace of technological innovations in advanced materials and manufacturing.
The Midwest Big Data Hub (MBDH) has significant engagement in advanced materials science and manufacturing communities, and our efforts in these spaces has grown since the Hub’s launch in 2015.
MBDH has partnerships with the Integrative Materials Design (iMaD) Spoke project and the Materials Data Facility, the Center for Hierarchical Materials Design (CHiMaD) at Northwestern University, and the nanoMFG node at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). We also collaborate with the South BD Hub on joint activities for Advanced Materials & Manufacturing.
The NSF-funded “Spoke” award for Integrative Materials Design (iMaD) has generated a range of community activities and partnerships across the Materials Science community; resources include the development of new machine-learning tools and training, some of which are available here.
We continue to extend these efforts, designed to build effective pathways to incorporate data into the advanced materials and manufacturing space, foster community development, and build capacity to facilitate a professional workforce ready for the data-centered advanced materials and manufacturing sector.
The MBDH has recently established a Working Group on Advanced Manufacturing and Materials, co-chaired by James Barkley of Ekta Flow LLC and Dr. Shiva Sastry from the University of Akron. This effort will contribute to the national agenda addressing the next wave of AI, Big Data, and Smart Systems in advanced manufacturing and materials. Over the next two years, the committee will:
- • Identify the highest-priority advanced manufacturing and materials issues and trends for MBDH stakeholders, aligned with regional and national grand challenges;
- • Develop relevant informational summaries and policy recommendations;
- • Communicate data, findings, and policy recommendations through the BD Hubs.