Facilities
W.M. Keck
Additive Manufacturing / 3D Printing
A wide range of additive manufacturing or rapid prototyping systems are available for research, product development, and direct manufacturing. This includes Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) systems, 3D printers, a Laser Sintering (LS) machine, Electron Beam Melting (EBM) systems, Stereolithography (SL) equipment, and specialized dispersing systems, which include a Fujifilm Dimatix Inkjet material printer and two nScrypt Smart Pum microdispensing systems.
Materials Characterization
The W.M. Keck Center, through the UTEP Cooperative Materials Laboratory Network, has access to materials characterization equipment, such as a field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM), a transmission electron microscope (TEM), a X-ray diffractometer, and optical digital imaging systems.
CNC Machining and Tooling
The W.M. Keck Center contains traditional and prototyping equipment, including one 5-axis Haas Super Mini Mill, a lathe with live tooling, a vacuum casting system, a plastic injection press, a pressure injection chamber, a dynamic mixing gun, and access to standard maching shop with mills lathes, drill presses, band saws, etc.
Reverse Engineering and Methology
Equipment and instruments are available for reverse engineering, imaging, general inspection and metrology including: a video measurement system, stereomicroscope, Micro-CT scanner, laser scanners, multiple digital/analog calipers and micrometers, and a surface roughness tester.
Synthetic and Analytical Chemistry
The center has a room designed for analytical chemistry and synthesis of materials. Equipment available in the facility includes gloveboxes containing inorganic and organic thermal evaporators, a Viscotec GPCmax chromatograph, vacuum ovens, rotary evaporators, and one SCS Coatings Parylene coater.
Materials Testing
The materials testing equipment available at the W.M. Keck Center includes an Instron electromechanical testing machine, a dynamic mechanical analyzer, and two servo hydraulic test systems.
Cell Culture (Tissue Engineering)
The center's facilities includes a room devoted to cell culture which includes equipment such as a laminar flow sterile culture hood, water purification systems, a phase contrast fluorescent inverted light microscope, a lyophilizer, low temperature refrigerators, incubators, centrifuges autoclaves, water baths, microbalances, chemical fume hoods, pH meter, viscometer, ovens vacuum pumps, and glassware.
Electronics (PCB and Silicon)
The center promotes multidisciplinary research and as such has invested in electronics equipment and software. This includes function generators, power supplies, source meters, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, FPGA development kits, microprocessor development kits, as well as a library of passive and active components.
Instructional
Lockheed Martin Corporation Mechanical Engineering Lab
This next generation learning facility provides students exceptional practice opportunities for learning the engineering of complex systems. The facility and its unique inspirational ambience houses a range of equipment from jet engine to wind turbine to train and inspire tomorrow's engineers.
Engineering Design Studio 2
This facility is an ideation space tailored to encourage creativity and efficiency through informality and collaboration. It features ergonomic seating, comfortable ambient lighting, large flat panel displays, projection screens, and abundant access to CAD and other engineering software. The facility is furnished with workstations to facilitate assembly and integration of manufactured parts and components. The facility is equipped with 3D printers and other Rapid Prototyping units. The facility houses a manufacturing unit equipped with state-of the art CNC and conventional machines and tooling.
NASA Aerospace Education Laboratory
A unique K-12 education themed laboratory designed to provide a convergence of K-12 and undergraduate engineering education. The laboratory is equipped with aircraft design and operation workstation along with wind tunnel, flight simulator, and microgravity drop tower to inspire and engage tomorrow's engineering students.
Intelligent Systems Laboratory
This facility provides state of the art mechatronic equipment and parts allowing students to study problems related to the design, construction and operation of autonomous equipment. Students design and assemble mobile vehicles and other equipment using components available in the laboratory. Vehicles often use sensors such as GPS, Inertial Measurement Units (IMU), Electronic Compass, wireless communications on a single board computer running C. Students learn to integrate traditional feedback control; state machine logic and simple intelligence algorithms to demonstrate intelligent like devices.