University Times

A center designed to take products from the idea stage through prototype development and into production was dedicated last month at Pitt's School of Engineering.

The Swanson Center for Product Innovation, named for Pitt engineering alumnus John A. Swanson, opened April 18 in room B62 Benedum Hall.

Swanson is founder of ANSYS, Inc. Internationally recognized as an authority in the application of finite-element methods to engineering, he endowed a Ph.D. fellowship for Pitt engineering students last year. In 1998, the engineering school honored Swanson with its Distinguished Alumnus Award.

"The Swanson Center is the latest example of the ways in which the University of Pittsburgh is contributing to the economic revitalization of our home region," Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg said.

The center includes four interconnected state-of-the-art laboratories where engineering students and faculty will work on projects of their own design as well as projects contracted through local and national companies and inventors.

The laboratories of the Swanson Center include:

* The Whitaker Design and Multimedia Laboratory, in which students develop ideas into plans for a prototype;

* The W.M. Keck Rapid Prototyping and Reverse Engineering Laboratory, in which the computerized design is developed into a functioning example of the final product;

* The Kresge Rapid Manufacturing Laboratory, which allows students to produce small batches of the finished product, and

* The Micro Electro Mechanical Systems Laboratory, which will create microscopic machines that can perform tasks such as sensing their environment with pressure and acceleration sensors.

"We hope that the Swanson Center for Product Innovation will build the relationship of the School of Engineering with our industrial partners, helping them to be successful in developing technology and fostering economic development in this area," said Gerald Holder, USX Dean of the School of Engineering.

"However, this center also will educate our undergraduates in the process of product design and innovation, and support our research efforts in biologically based micro-electromechanical systems, manufacturing and digital device development. With the proposed minor in product innovation, our graduates will be in a position to make important contributions to companies that are trying to develop and market new products," Holder said.