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University of Pittsburgh, John A. Swanson Center for Product Innovation
The School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh
has recently established the Swanson Center for Product Innovation (SCPI) – a
laboratory that enables NCIIA E-Teams to build prototypes and perform small
scale production of innovative new products.
The Swanson Center for Product Innovation closely ties
together four otherwise distinct laboratories that parallel the new product’s
developmental lifecycle of design, prototyping and manufacturing. These
laboratories, which are unparalleled by any other academic institution in the
US, include:
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Design and Multi-media Laboratory,
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Rapid Prototyping & Reverse Engineering Laboratory,
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Rapid Manufacturing Laboratory, and
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Micro Electronic Mechanical System (MEMS) Laboratory.
Representing more than a four million-dollar investment,
the facilities have been developed to span the product design lifecycle to
facilitate commercialization of NCIIA E-Team projects.
The Bioengineering Design and Multi-Media Lab
facilitates the interaction of small interdisciplinary student teams in an
effort to collaboratively solve real-world design, analysis, and prototyping
problems. The laboratory consists of flexible clusters of high-end graphical
workstations with comprehensive design capabilities, which students will use to
develop paperless designs that have been analytically dissected and evaluated.
The WM Keck Rapid Prototyping and Reverse Engineering
Lab provides students with unique hands-on experiences in the development
and production of functional prototypes through the utilization of leading-edge
rapid prototyping and reverse engineering technologies, including
stereolithography, fused deposition modeling, three-dimensional printing,
contact scanning, and laser scanning.
The Kresge Rapid Manufacturing Laboratory completes
the product development cycle through the addition of a manufacturing component.
This facility enables students to rapidly fabricate small batches of new
products using state-of-the-art technology, including CNC machine tools,
injection molding machines, vacuum casting systems, an electronic test cell, and
a test cell for material analysis.
The Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
Laboratory creates a microsystem facility with a clean room (designated as
class 10,000) which is suitable for thick film, silicon-based processing. With
the initial outlay of equipment (Spin Coater, Profilometer, Chemical Wet Bench
with Fume Hood), the SCPI MEMS lab focuses on fabricating less complicated
micro-scale structures. The primary general purpose building material that has
been targeted for fabrication purposes is the thick film called SU8. Examples of
micro-scale structures that are produced are micro-grooves for biological cell
cultures and micro-distribution systems for drug delivery.
Pitt SCPI's Role in N2TEC
Provide mechanical rapid prototyping capability and
support not available elsewhere.
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