In our center projects, we bring together students and faculty with company engineers to investigate, research, and develop company-specific IoT and industrial analytics technologies. We help our member companies gain a competitive advantage through deeper understanding, accelerated innovation and development, and successful deployment and adoption of IoT and industrial analytics.
Research
Research Focus
Overall Research Objective
Quickly and effectively detect and predict system faults/failures, identify underlying root causes, and define maintenance or operational decisions for complex engineering systems to improve reliability, performance, safety, and cost-effectiveness.
Significant business impact
- Productivity: improved performance and uptime
- Service: first time/call resolution and parts availability
- Safety and risk mitigation
- Total cost of ownership
- Sustainability
Examples of Industry Collaboration
- AO Smith – Analysis of equipment usage patterns by customers.
- Berntsen International – Condition monitoring of underground infrastructure.
- GE Healthcare – Failure prediction based on fault event logs.
- General Motors – Car battery life prediction.
- Mercury Marine – Warranty/Service data analysis to support engine diagnostics for customer service.
- Toyota Material Handling NA – Equipment failure predictive analytics for guiding service decision-making.
- Welbilt – Data analytics for predictive maintenance and productivity improvement of IoT enabled commercial kitchen appliances.
- Zurn Industries – Event modeling and analysis.
Type of Projects
Precompetitive research projects
Precompetitive research projects are open to member companies and allows each company one project a year at no cost. The final project report will be in the form of a written report and/or presentation. This type of project is precompetitive in nature and the project results may be shared with member companies.
Company-specific proprietary projects
Company-specific proprietary projects are sponsored by a specific company. The scope and duration are project-specific. The project findings will be protected by an explicit IP agreement negotiated between the university and the company.
GAINING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES FOR MEMBER COMPANIES
- Provide assistance to investigate company-specific engineering problems related to IoT and industrial analytics
- Build close collaboration between university and companies
- Provide collaborative learning opportunities for company professionals
- Provide training opportunity for undergraduate/graduate students
- Provide a way for companies to access student talent