CFSP External Evaluator Report Example

From Center for Friction Stir Processing Guide

APPENDIX P – CFSP External Evaluator Report Example

National Science Foundation

Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for

Friction Stir Processing

NSF IUCRC-FSP

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Brigham Young University University of South Carolina, and University of Missouri - Rolla

2006 Evaluator’s Report

Vision, Mission and Objectives

Vision: The Center for Friction Stir Processing (CFSP) vision is to provide the forum for industry/university cooperative research on the further development and validation of emerging technologies involving solid-state materials joining and processing known as Friction Stir Processing (FSP).

Mission: The Center's mission is to be the leading academic organization that develops relevant scientific knowledge for understanding and expanding technology in the area of solid-state materials joining and processing known as Friction Stir Processing for the benefit of its members and in support of the overall mission of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Specifically to:

• Advance, develop and promote research into the principles and technology of FSP science and engineering through research, development, education, and technology exchange among academic, industry, and government entities
• Increase the quantity and quality of professionals prepared to work in this area
• Involve the faculty of the consortium university(s) in research in areas of common interest to sponsors and the university(s)
• Perform research that will promote the global competitiveness of sponsor friction stir processing facilities

Objective: The overall objective of the Center is to develop and deliver relevant scientific knowledge that will help its members with future challenges. Center programs are designed to complement the members' in-house research and development in the area of friction stir processing by bringing together theoretical, experimental and application experts from industry and academia in order to:

• conduct pre-competitive leading edge research related to emerging and traditional FSP technologies
• develop next generation friction stir processing models
• develop next generation computational design tools
• develop innovative methods to effectively train students and engineers in the area of FSP to enlarge the cadre of scientists and technologists capable of working effectively in this area

CFSP Organizational and Research

University and Companies: For this evaluation time period, the CFSP had four affiliated universities: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T), Rapid City, SD; Brigham Young University (BYU), Provo, UT; University of South Carolina (USC), Columbia, SC; and The University of Missouri – Rolla (UMR), Rolla, MO. SDSM&T is the lead institution and BYU, USC and UMR are site universities funded by NSF. The Wichita State University has petitioned the CFSP to become an additional university site and acceptance of the planning grant proposal is expected during the next reporting period.

The Center has been active since October of 2004. Researchers at the four participating universities have significant expertise and professional interest in the area of friction stir processing. SDSM&T leads center research related to Design Space Integration Into Processing Space, Intelligent Process Sensors and Controls, Structural Design and Analysis and FSP equipment; BYU leads center research in the areas of “Hard to Join” Materials and High Temperature Pin Tools; USC leads center research in Process Modeling, Process Optimization, Joint Performance and Fracture and Fatigue; and UMR leads center research in Microstructure-Property Correlations, Microstructure Modification, materials Processing, Life Cycle Analysis and Technology Diffusion. The scientists, unique laboratories and specialized equipment of these institutions are highly complementary. Many members of the faculty and research staff of CFSP institutions enjoy international reputations in their disciplines. They hold many prestigious awards both as researchers and educators and are active members in related national and international organizations.

Nineteen companies have signed the CFSP membership agreement as of October 2005. Current CFSP members include MTS Systems Corporation, Pacific Northwest National Labs, The Boeing Company, BAE Systems Corporation, US Army Research Laboratory, Sikorsky Aircraft, NASA Langley Research Center, Spirit Aerosystems, Kaiser Aluminum, EADS Airbus, Lockheed Martin Space Systems - Michoud Operations, JFE Steel Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Toshiba Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd., Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Advanced Metal Products, Inc, General Motors Corporation, and Friction Stir Link. With the exception of the government research laboratories, these firms are large in size, for profit organizations, and internationally recognized in engineering design, manufacturing and production of military and commercial (aerospace and land systems) products and testing systems hardware. Three of these companies have "in kind" memberships (no cash support); however, they do participate as advisors on all sponsored research projects. Two of these companies have dual membership at SDSMT and UMR.

The time period covered in this report can be characterized as one of general stability. Negotiations are currently underway with multiple firms to become full members of CFSP. These potential new members include Alcan and SKB, Sweden.

Organization: The Center Director is responsible for all Center activities and reports directly to the Vice President for Research at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and the Industrial Advisory Board (IAB). The Site Directors at the lead and site universities are responsible for Center activities at their university and report directly to their respective appropriate university administrators and to the Center Director. The Site Directors also provide liaison between the Center and the appropriate academic departments of the member universities. Site Principal Investigators manage specific research projects funded by the Center and report directly to the appropriate Site Director, the appropriate university administrators, and to the sponsors supporting the project.

The Center has formed a multi-university administrative oversight and policy committee consisting of the Vice President or Provost of Research (or his/her designee) at each university to resolve any and all Center administrative issues, including review of academic standards, recruitment strategies, retention issues, funding issues, space requirements, and equipment requirements related to the Center. This committee assures faculty recognition for participation in the Center in tenure and promotion decisions, and to assure that the research is appropriate for graduate education. Additionally, the lead university and each participating university has provided a reasonable level of clerical and accounting support staff for Center operations. All sponsors participate in the strategic planning of the Center. The IAB assists the Center Director, Co-Directors and faculty in:

• Identifying pre-competitive, generic, industry-related, multidisciplinary research problems in friction stir welding and processing
• Recommending research projects for future work
• Assisting in identifying appropriate industrial internship opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral students
• Identifying new sponsors
• Reviewing the research and educational accomplishments of the Center
• Recommending the restructuring of on-going programs and/or redirecting on-going programs to meet IAB needs and concerns

Although individual sponsors of the Center join the Center through one of the university sites, there is only one IAB for the Center. The IAB selects a Chairperson for a two-year term at the IAB meeting held in October. Membership fee sponsors and in-kind sponsors have one representative on the IAB. A company may have more than one Center membership and, thereby, may have more than one Center representative on the IAB.

Administration: The Center Director and Site Directors work with the IAB on strategic plans for the Center and on recruiting new sponsors. The Center Director in cooperation with the Site Directors submits an annual operating and research budget to the IAB for review and recommendations prior to the spring IAB Meeting of each year. The Site Directors, upon recommendation of the IAB and the Center Director, authorize the use of membership fees by the Project Principal Investigators in support of Center research. The Site Directors work with the appropriate departments on recruiting graduate students for the Center and set standards for student participation; monitor student progress towards a degree; set goals for recruiting students (especially minority and women); promote multidisciplinary nature of the research program; and, help students to organize industrial internships. The Site Directors develop a strategy to integrate Center technologies into the academic curriculum at each participating university to the maximum extent possible.

Each CFSP IUCRC graduate student have a Center faculty mentor and, if available, at least one Center industrial advisor. The faculty mentor is responsible for advising the student on university, departmental, and Center policies.

With the exception of UMR becoming a participating site university during this reporting period, the structure of Center has not changed significantly since its inception and there have been no faculty personnel changes. There have been no major policy changes. The IAB plays a very active role in forming the long-range and short-range plans for the research program. Industry continues to be instrumental in defining the current thrust areas. Generally, ideas for research are generated by both the participating faculty and industry partners or from suggestions made on comments at the semi-annual IAB review meetings. Faculty proposals are generated from these ideas. The strategy for a long-range (5 year) plan continues to entail asking Center participants to envision where they would like Center research to be in five years. The Center staff then develops plans to reach these research goals by identifying major milestones and technology barriers. These plans are used by faculty to monitor their progress.

Research: CFSP research topics continue to focus on the needs of the sponsors and the capabilities of the university(s). The primary areas of research include:

• Friction Stir Joining
• Friction Stir Microstructural Modification
• Friction Stir Post-Processing
• Friction Stir Structural Designs and Application
• Friction Stir Intelligent Controllers and Efficient Tooling
• Friction Stir Cost Benefits Analysis

While the research program can be modified based on input received from the IAB, numerous specific projects within these topical areas are conducted. Brief descriptions of this year research projects were reported to the members during 2005 via quarterly reports distributed by mail and published on the website. Additional specific problem-oriented research projects are identified in collaboration with industrial projects and others will be added as capabilities grow. New projects are tailored to the specific needs of new members.

Environment: The CFSP Center Director and the four site Co-Directors have been very active in their recruiting efforts and developing research proposals for federal funding. During the rating period, there have been nineteen industrial and government partners. Several additional companies and organizations have been contacted. In this regard, the Fall IAB meeting hosted by SDSM&T invited others to the IAB meeting in an effort to attract new members to the Center. Their 2005 recruitment objectives to obtain a total of five memberships for UMR were accomplished.

As stated above, the CFSP serves a number of government laboratories and diverse, internationally recognized and generally large in size for profit companies in the aerospace and land systems and testing equipment. Financial support for the Center comes from NSF grants and member companies and organizations that form the IAB. Each company member provides funding and member company dues are used for research.

Center Accomplishments

Knowledge/technical advances: The past year is marked by a substantial number of major accomplishments for CFSP. In particular, SDSM&T researchers made significant advances in: “Built-Up” Friction Stir Welding (FSW) of aluminum and steel structures; intelligent process control system algorithm development for aluminum and steel FSW; and, FSW of dissimilar alloy steels (a REU Program). The UMR team created a Friction Stir Welding and Processing (FSW/P) database and developed process parameter correlations capability. BYU research staff made significant FSW of high temperature materials advances for a wide range of parameters and different tool designs. The USC continues to make significant developments aluminum and Titanium FSW thermal management, in particular, improved algorithms for prediction of temperature fields have been implemented and process development tools based on analysis of process response variables are being developed and validated.

Technology transfer: All sponsors have non-exclusive rights to the entire CFSP IUCRC research portfolio under the conditions outlined in the Membership Agreement. All Sponsors have an opportunity to directly contribute to CFSP IUCRC research and education programs by serving as industrial mentors and/or thesis committee members as appropriate and consistent with the policies and procedures of participating Universities. They have the opportunity to propose case study problems, specific research problems, and focus areas for research. The case study problems are used to train CFSP IUCRC students on the use of current CFSP technologies. Additionally, all Sponsors have the opportunity to host postdoctoral research associates and/or graduate students as industrial interns. Technology transfer between the faculty/student research teams and industrial partners from the Center’s perspective will be promoted by:

• Pre-doctoral and post-doctoral industrial internships
• The direct involvement of the industrial advisor on the research team
• Web based submission of reports
• Semiannual research retreats

The participating member companies responding to this year’s survey purported the dollar value benefit to them from all of the research projects combined ranged from $0 - $62,000 per company. One member reported an estimated value of $700,000 saved for three projects. For most firms, commercialization of the research had no to slight impact with the exception of many members who reported that Center research had a moderate to high impact on “Improvements to existing products, processes and/or services” and “Development of new products, processes and/or services”.

Educational impacts: The CFSP has been operational for one year. During this evaluation period, the IUCRC has 2 journal articles in preparation. The Center participants have also contributed to text books. The research at the Center is now coming to a maturity level that will result in publications, once approval is given from the IAB.

Analysis: Responses to the annual survey sent to members, personal discussions during the two IAB meetings and the use of LIFE forms remain the primary sources to measure member interest and satisfaction in CFSP current and proposed research programs and accomplishments. During the reporting period, most members reported that they took an active interest in more than 40-59% of the Center’s currently funded projects. (CFSP distribution results mean of 3.5 (60-79%) compares to the national average mean of 2.9 (40-59%) for FY 2003-2004). The CFSP member satisfaction levels with the Center are extremely good overall and in particular, most of the members reported that they are quite satisfied to very satisfied with all features of the CFSP Research Program. With the exception of one respondent, all reported that they were quite satisfied to very satisfied with “the relevance of Center research to support their organization’s short term and long term needs. Company representatives reported that their organizations benefited primarily through increased technical understanding, the availability of laboratory resources and exposure to cutting edge FSP capabilities. There are, however, comments that suggest there is a perception that the universities are not collaborating and coordinating their site specific research programs as effectively as they should. The 2005 fall Industry Advisory Board (IAB) approved going forward with Wichita State University as an additional CFSP site university. Wichita State University brings complementary capabilities and the prospect of attracting additional companies to the Center. This provides the opportunity for the Center to revisit and modify its overall research program goals, project objectives, timelines/major milestones and deliverables to eliminate this perception. Doing so would also ensure there is no duplication of efforts among sites. This would not only help current members but, most significantly, would also help prospective Wichita State members identify how their individual organizations could benefit by participating in the Center. Additionally, the membership would be able to revisit it periodically and be able to recommend how it could be adjusted to suit their changing needs.

The Center’s Research and Development technical benefits mean values fell short of the FY 2003 -2004 IUCRC’s national norms. Member companies stated that the hiring of students and staff with expertise in the Center’s core competency areas was a very valuable benefit and critical to their keeping abreast of technology advances (one student was hired during this evaluation period). Company access to expensive laboratory equipment and trained specialists also provided them exposure to research capabilities that that they did not have to develop. As quantified above, many members reported a very high dollar value to the technical benefit resulting from center-stimulated research projects and processes. However, since the Center has been in operation for less than two years and because most of its IAB members have been members less than two years, their ratings, assessments and comments need to be interpreted with caution. The primary challenge in this regard is for the Center to ensure that the technology being developed is transferred effectively to its members. Specific deliverables complete with technology transfer mechanisms in place coupled with a clearly defined research program will help retain current members and assist in recruiting new members.

In summary, the respondents are quite satisfied with the Center’s research capabilities and performance. It was apparent from both IAB meetings that the CFSP research and administrative staff has an excellent working relationship with the current industrial members. Most reported high levels of satisfaction with all aspects of Center Administration and Operations. They enjoyed the Center’s IAB meetings, the technical and scientific presentations, poster sessions and the stimulating intellectual discussions. The CFSP has a very informative, up to date and easy to use website with all Center generated information (including LIFE forms and responses to same) for its membership. The Center Directors have made member site visits and distribute all CFSP meeting materials in CD format. However, some of the members’ open ended responses suggest that communications need to improve. This is always an issue with any organization and it is difficult to satisfy every one in this regard. Perhaps, periodic newsletters or success stories in addition to the quarterly progress reports distributed by mail and all the information and reports posted on the website between the IAB meetings may help address this issue.

The following highlights significant events occurring during CFSP formation and development.

2001-2005 Calendar for Development of IUCRC-FSP

December 2001	SDSM&T submits a letter of intent to form an IUCRC
March 2002	SDSM&T, BYU, USC and UMR submitted collaborative Planning Grant Proposal to NSF - not approved
March 2003	SDSM&T, BYU, USC and UMR submits second collaborative Planning Grant Proposal to NSF
August 2003	NSF IUCRC Planning Grants awarded to SDSM&T, BYU, USC and UMR effective 1 Oct 2003
December 2003	SDSM&T hosts BYU, USC and UMR for a planning/membership recruitment strategy meeting
February 2004	BYU hosts potential industry sponsors planning/membership recruitment meeting
August 2004	NSF IUCRC for Friction Stir Processing at SDSM&T, BYU and USC established; UMR NSF operational grant delayed
August 2004	Dr. Ronald R. Beck assumes NSF Center Evaluator duties
October 2004	SDSM&T hosts inaugural IAB meeting
December 2004	Planning Grant final report approved by NSF
January 2005	A REU request submitted to NSF in December 2004 approved by NSF
April 2005	USC hosts 2nd IAB meeting
May 2005	UMR receives NSF operational grant
October 2005	SDSM&T hosts 3rd IAB meeting. IAB members approves submission of a Planning Grant Proposal to NSF for Wichita State as a site university

Respectfully submitted,

Ronald R. Beck, PhD.

NSF Center Evaluator