Designing Technology Solutions for Manufacturing
UW-Stout's Center for Advanced Manufacturing & Artificial Intelligence (CAM-AI) supports manufacturers and other businesses by leveraging the expertise of UW-Stout's faculty and our wide-ranging and sophisticated laboratories and equipment. CAM-AI will provide a point of contact to get a rapid response on requests for assistance and coordinates timely completion of projects.
Areas of Consultation & Operational Expertise
We provide advice on processes, materials and design, design of jigs, fixtures and final use parts and output with industry-standard 3D printers.
CAM-AI can design a system that captures visual images and analyzes the images using AI algorithms and techniques such as pattern recognition, image segmentation and feature extraction. Information from the processed images can be used to make decisions, such as sending commands to other systems or triggering actions.
Students in the Robert F. Cervenka School of Engineering routinely design and build automation assemblies as part of capstone projects. CAM-AI can do the same on a time frame not tied to the academic calendar and with greater flexibility around non-disclosure agreement and intellectual property considerations.
The Plastics Engineering program ranked No. 1 Best Value Polymer and Plastics Engineering School in the United States by Course Advisor for since year 2020. The Plastics Engineering faculty members possess the technical expertise and cutting-edge facilities to support industry partner’s needs in materials, tooling, and processing. Over the past decade, the plastics engineering faculty completed more than 70 industry partner projects. The services we provide include, but are not limited to the following.
Material Characterization
- Composition analysis
- Material identification and selection
- Failure analysis
- Mechanical testing
- Accelerated weathering
- Lot to lot variation testing
- Rotational and capillary rheology measurements
Plastics Processing
- Injection molding (material trials, process simulation, mold design)
- Extrusion (material trials, process analysis and optimization, die and screw design)
- Thermoforming (material trials, process optimization, mold design)
- Extrusion blow molding (material trials)
- Rotational molding (material trials)
- 3D printing (design and prototyping)
The Packaging program boasts a long and distinguished history of collaborating with industry leaders to solve real-world packaging challenges. Our faculty members bring together technical expertise and a hands-on approach to provide tailored solutions in materials and package testing, package design, and prototyping. With state-of-the-art facilities and the latest industry insights, we are well-equipped to meet your specific needs and help drive your business forward. The services we provide include, but are not limited to the following.
Materials Testing
- Mechanical testing, including tensile, impact, peel adhesive, tear, folding endurance, ECT, and Mullen testing
- Water Vapor Transmission Rate testing
- Oxygen Transmission Rate testing
- Coefficient of Friction
- Contact Angle measurements
- Sutherland rub testing
- Gelbo flex testing
Package Testing
- Distribution simulation testing (drop, vibration, compression)
- ISTA parcel package testing
- Shock and fragility testing
- Package integrity testing
- Seal strength and window testing
- Burst testing
- O2/CO2 headspace
- Bubble leak testing
- Shelf-life studies
- UV-VIS spectrometer testing
- Gas chromatography
Package Design & Prototyping
- Kongsberg cutting table
- Heat sealer with vacuum and gas flush
- Modified Atmosphere Packaging
- Tray sealer
- Heat shrink tunnel
- Thermoforming
- K control coater
