Seminar: The Art and Science of Flexible Sheet Metal Forming

Jian Cao, PhD, Northwestern University

All dates for this event occur in the past.

E525 Scott Lab
E525 Scott Lab
201 W. 19th Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

How human beings utilize metal tools was once one of the key criteria in assessing the degree of civilization. Today, metal products are at every corner of our life, from art decoration to the zillions of connectors in electronic products, from implants inside of our human body to satellites outside of the Earth. Flexible manufacturing processes can maximize design freedom and stimulate innovation for customized products. In this talk, various forms of incremental sheet forming currently conducted at the Advanced Manufacturing Processes Laboratory of Northwestern and its collaborators will be presented to illustrate the fundamental mechanics and great potentials of these processes, as well as the challenges in modelling, control and design of this kind of highly flexible forming processes.

About the Speaker

Cao (MIT’95, MIT’92, SJTU’89) is the Cardiss Collins Professor, Director of Northwestern Initiative for Manufacturing Science and Innovation, and an Associate Vice President for Research (AVPR) at Northwestern University. She was at the National Science Foundation as a program director for two years. Prof. Cao’s current research on flexible dieless forming, micro-forming, laser ablation processes and additive manufacturing has direct impacts on energy-efficient manufacturing, surface engineering and distributed manufacturing. Professor Cao is an elected Fellow of SME, the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP), and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Her major awards include Charles Russ Richards Memorial Award from ASME and Pi Tau Sigma, SME Frederick W. Taylor Research Medal, ASME Blackall Machine Tool and Gage Award, and NSF CAREER Award. Prof. Cao is the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Materials Processing Technology. She served as President of the SME North America Manufacturing Research Institute, and Chair of ASME Manufacturing Engineering Division. As an AVPR, Prof. Cao fosters the collaboration between the physical sciences and engineering and the other disciplines across and beyond Northwestern. She is a Board member of mHUB, Chicago's first innovation center focused on physical product development and manufacturing.

Hosted by Professor David Hoelzle