Research Clusters
The Center of Excellence in Product Design and Advanced Manufacturing encompasses 85 faculty from seven colleges at North Carolina A&T State University. CEPDAM will play a vital role in establishing interdisciplinary themes across different design and manufacturing industrial sectors impacting the US economy. CEPDAM clusters incorporate faculty expertise as below:
Creative Design and Product Realization
The Creative Design and Product Realization cluster accelerates early-stage innovation through modern design methods, CAD/CAE simulation, and rapid prototyping. It provides the tools, space, and expertise to turn concepts into functional prototypes and manufacturable designs. These capabilities support both research teams and industry partners in product validation, iteration, and translation to advanced manufacturing. More...
Smart Manufacturing and Automation
The Smart Manufacturing and Automation cluster advances cyber-physical manufacturing systems through robotics, automation, and intelligent production workflows. Core strengths include digital and additive manufacturing, autonomous systems, human-robot interaction, and trustworthy autonomy for factory-scale deployment. The cluster emphasizes integrated sensing, control, and system-level engineering to enable adaptive, human-centered manufacturing. More...
Industrial AI
The Industrial AI cluster develops data-driven intelligence for manufacturing performance, quality, and resilience. Key focus areas include predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, process optimization, machine vision quality inspection, and digital-thread analytics across the product lifecycle. The cluster also advances MLOps/edge AI and trustworthy AI to deploy robust models in real operational environments. More...
Multiscale Modeling and High-Performance Materials
The Multiscale Modeling and High-Performance Materials cluster specializes in computational science and materials innovation across molecular-to-system scales. Expertise spans molecular dynamics, high-fidelity fluid/thermal/mechanical modeling, and simulation-enabled manufacturing process design. Research includes bio-inspired armors, hybrid machining, fuel cell systems, nano/molecular structures, and peptide self-assembly for next-generation materials and manufacturing. More...
Bio, Agro Environmental Systems Manufacturing
The Bio, Agro, and Environmental Systems Manufacturing cluster creates manufacturing-oriented solutions for health, agriculture, and sustainability. Capabilities include biomolecular modeling, biosensors, biomaterials, microfluidics, and scalable biomanufacturing platforms. Key application areas include regenerative tissue engineering, implants, drug delivery, wound healing, organ-on-chip systems, biomimetics, immunotherapeutics, and environmentally responsible processing. More...
Next-Gen Design and Manufacturing Workforce Development
The Next-Gen Design and Manufacturing Workforce Development cluster builds talent pipelines for advanced manufacturing through education, training, and experiential learning. It designs stackable credentials, industry-aligned curricula, and immersive training (e.g., digital twin and XR-enabled learning) to improve job readiness and upskilling. The cluster also supports innovation and entrepreneurship pathways that translate CEPDAM technologies into regional workforce and economic impact. More...
