Tag: La Tech

LSU and LA Tech Partnership Creates Structural Integrity Center

In a game-changing decision for the future of engineering, both Louisiana State University and Louisiana Tech University have teamed up to establish a new Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC), according to an LSU press release made by.   The Center for Innovations in Structural Integrity Assurance, also known as CISIA, will serve the industrial and academic community as the epicenter of knowledge and innovations made across many broad industrial sectors in the United States. This commitment to focus on assuring the structural integrity of components for both small and large structures is seen by the involved Universities as a way to instill a sense of industry duty and responsibility in their Engineering students.

This partnership between LSU and La Tech University will, for the first time in the history of either institution, create a single center of structural integrity assurance that aims to focus on innovative solutions, predictive capabilities, and transformative insights for mechanical structures. The center director and professor in the LSU Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michael Khonsari, commented on LSU’s perspective, saying, “our faculty are excited about the establishment of this I/UCRC. It has been one of our long-term strategic goals to form strong and sustainable partnerships with industry, and we are grateful to NSF for making this possible.”

Candidly stated, the potential economic, social, and environmental consequences of infrastructure and component failure can be absolutely catastrophic to the nation on an immensely massive scale. As it stands right now, the predicted failure of aging civil infrastructure is set to result in a United States GDP loss of $4 trillion and 2.5 million jobs over the next ten years. Additionally, there is no I/UCRC that is currently active that is able to match the capabilities of the research and development of CISIA, further proving the importance of its installation.

Dr. Leslie Guice, the president of Louisiana Tech, commented saying, “this Industry-University Cooperative Research Center is a distinct recognition of the excellent research conducted by Louisiana Tech faculty in collaboration with LSU. Our industry partners will greatly benefit from these stronger partnerships with the researchers and talented students, and that will be great for Louisiana.”

According to LSU’s statement, CISIA will be in an optimal position to translate the links between new materials, innovative manufacturing processes, and their “collective impact on reliability across all U.S. industrial sectors.” This advantageous position is a result of CISIA’s integration of validated diagnostics, material testing and characterization occurring on multiple scales, data-driven machine learning, and manufacturing parameter optimization and process characterization.

Unlike the academic and industrial members that make up CISIA, most industrial research and development organizations currently operating in the United States today do not research establishing links among structural integrity, infrastructure performance, and material properties. Because of the depth and scope of their research, CISIA will collaborate closely with industry professionals, LSU, and La Tech to produce a crop of engineers who are expertly trained to utilize modern, innovative methods of structural health monitoring and analysis.

The training of both school’s engineering students will include the studying of state-of-the-art evaluation and testing facilities so that upon graduation, these students will be some of the most highly-qualified, productive workforces in the nation, thus further contributing to the global competitiveness of many US industries.

LSU Interim Executive Vice President & Provost Matt Lee stated, “this is a watershed moment enhancing our efforts to produce eminent engineers of the future, groundbreaking research, and innovative solutions that will significantly further the critical work to address failing and aging infrastructure around the country. We are proud to partner with Louisiana Tech on this cooperative research center, and to better serve our students, the industrial sector, and our nation through the research, training, and collaboration that will be done at the Center for Innovations in Structural Integrity Assurance.”

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Louisiana Tech Summer Camp Teaches About Science through Visual Arts

For the second year in a row, students gathered at Louisiana Tech University and took part in a summer camp that allowed them to blend the academic disciplines of art and science in interesting ways, according to a press release from the school.

The Visual Integration of Science Through Art (VISTA) summer camp was held June 21-25, and it allowed participants to learn about abstract scientific concepts through visual art. The directors of the camp, Nicholas Bustamante, a professor in LA Tech’s School of Design, and Dr. Jaimie Newman, the College of Engineering and Science’s associate dean for research and graduate studies, hosted the event on LA Tech’s campus for over a dozen high schoolers from across the state.

Similar to last year, the VISTA summer camp at Louisiana Tech was funded through the overarching arm of Louisiana Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). GEAR UP is Louisiana’s premiere college education access and preparation initiative that’s administered by the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA), a program organized by the Louisiana Board of Regents.

Over the past decade, Louisiana GEAR UP has partnered with 37 schools in 15 school districts across the state to bridge the gap between public education and the post-secondary educational landscape. One of the ultimate goals of the program is to support students from low-income families so that they are ready to enter and succeed on a post-secondary campus.

Dr. Tireka Cobb spoke about the beneficial aspects of this year’s VISTA camp experience, saying, “these programs allow students to explore college programs and careers in a fun, educational and interactive way that allows the building and expansion of learning that has happened during the academic year. Camps held during the summer help our students see the relevance of what they are working on in school from August to May, and how it all ties into them striving to be successful in life after high school. Understanding that connection prompts students to be more driven, engaged, and successful in the secondary, and eventually postsecondary arena.” Dr. Cobb is the director of LOSFA’s Field Outreach Services and Louisiana GEAR UP program.

When speaking with Louisiana Tech’s press, Bustamante expressed his delight in seeing how the visual communication aspects of the camp were able to give students more confidence in both expressing their ideas and asking lingering questions as the week progressed. The unique combination of both visual art and biological sciences is not only seen as a valuable method through which to communicate more complex topics, but the partnership of the two academic disciplines also served to advertise the various career opportunities that could be found in the arts.

Last year’s VISTA camp was conducted over Zoom as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but the overarching subject was titled: “Keep Calm and Camp on with Louisiana Tech: What’s COVID-19 Got to Do With You?” The focus of the first annual VISTA camp allowed participating students to take a particularly active role in learning about COVID-19 through the use of illustrations.

The experience found at this year’s VISTA camp is just one of the many educational opportunities offered by Louisiana GEAR UP in the summer, allowing students to stay mentally active despite not being on break. These summer learning camps aim to provide access to a college and career-orientated environment and promote STEM learning experiences.

LA Tech’s Associate Dean of Research, Outreach, and Innovation, Dr. Lindsey Vincent, said of the experience, “the interdisciplinary VISTA initiative led by Dr. Newman and Professor Bustamante exposes our [Louisiana] GEAR UP students to a world of learning and work connecting fascinating aspects of both science and art. Such multidisciplinary approaches are now necessary to solve some of the world’s most complex problems.”

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