1. Daniel Walczyk, PhD, PE
Professor and Center Director

2. Center for Automation Technologies and Systems
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
ESD Program: NYSTAR
Technical & Business Consultation
Needs/Resource Matching within Rensselaer
Collaborative Research and Grant Writing
Proof of Concept Demonstration of New Manufacturable Products, Manufacturing Processes and Systems
Surrogate R&D and/or Manufacturing Engineering Department for SMEs
Mechanical, electrical, chemical, materials, industrial, computer systems and biomedical engineering expertise
Smart manufacturing and advanced controls expertise
Computational modeling expertise (FEA, CFD, multi-physics)
Fully equipped & staffed prototyping shop (CNC machining, 3D printing, metal working, plastics processing, composites mfg., AWJ and laser cutting)
Product and process characterization within Rensselaer (mechanical, electrical, materials, chemical, biological)
13,000 ft2 of lab space including high bay with 20-ton gantry crane
Industries Served: All manufacturers from small to medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to multi-national corporations
Automation and advanced robotics testbeds
Clean room space

4. Automation & Robotics Applied to Advanced Manufacturing
Production and Assembly
Advanced materials processing (e.g., composites, polymers, biomaterials)
Additive manufacturing (metal, bioadditive, food)
Collaborative robotics
Clean tech energy products (e.g., fuel cells, batteries)
Computation modeling of manufacturing processes
Smart manufacturing
Manufacturing taxonomy, i.e. specialization of a conceptualization
Digital manufacturing, digital thread, digital twin

5. Proof of Concept Demonstration
Patented Pressure Focusing Layer (PFL) Concept for Advanced Composites Manufacturing
Compression Mold/Mask Shape Optimization to Achieve Uniform Consolidation Pressure (similar to autoclaving)
Advanced Tooling Concepts
3D Part Fabrication with PFL Mold Set