Proposals

Abstract

The University of Washington Aeronautics and Astronautics (A&A) Department has a unique opportunity to update their current composite fabrication space to meet the needs of students from many departments. Safety is challenging and could be better managed with updated equipment. This proposal would give us the resources to update the composite lab and allow students from other departments to use the equipment for research and meet their educational goals. This opportunity for our department to upgrade facilities will help all UW students - undergraduate and graduate - who have an interest in materials and materials science as well as the many engineering Registered Student Organizations (RSO) teams who use composite materials on their projects for competition. The A&A department is asking the committee for funding for this project after committing at least $70,000 of department funding to complete the required facility upgrades for the requested equipment in this proposal. Upgrades include electrical, plumping, and HVAC as well as consulting with an outside engineering firm for blueprints to install systems to state and city building codes. The A&A department is also committing up to three full time professional staff members as well as funding five Grad Student Assistant (GSA) positions annually to manage the new equipment, provide safety training, teach students and faculty, and facilitate workshops and labs. The department understands the need to create a system by which any UW student can access this space. The department is in a position to create a robust system for all students to safely access this space once it is up and running. The department is committed to creating a collaborative environment with all departments with the goal of fostering innovation and robust partnerships on the UW campus. Our goal is to provide state-of-art learning opportunities for entry-level projects all the way to professional and industry level research.