The Alloy Design and Development Laboratories are a trans-disciplinary research facility that serve as an agile collaboration space for multiple PIs and industry partners. They provide a demonstration feature to highlight fundamental science coordinated to solve problems, and function as a test facility to develop programs through funding agencies, industry and national labs. These state-of-the-art laboratories seek to experimentally and theoretically evaluate novel design schemes in metal additive units, enable validation of scientific and technological designs as well as the physical models required for tailored synthesis, and permit new science, collaborations and innovations.
Meet Professor Dan Thoma
Dr. Thoma joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison as the inaugural Director of the Grainger Institute for Engineering (GIE). The GIE was an accelerator within the College of Engineering to mature scientific and technical areas with significant societal impact. Currently, he is a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Prior to UW, he was the Deputy Division Leader for the Materials Science and Technology (MST) Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This division focused on advanced manufacturing and novel materials research. His technical efforts have been devoted to new manufacturing methods and materials by design, with a particular focus on property response as a function of microstructural evolution during phase transformations. Dr. Thoma has been active within materials professional societies, where he was the president of The Minerals, Metals, Materials Society (TMS) in 2003, the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) in 2008, and the Federation of Materials Societies (FMS) in 2009-2010. His expertise in materials and manufacturing was recognized in 2008 by being elected as a Fellow of ASM International. In 2019, he was elected Fellow of TMS. Dr. Thoma was awarded the AIME Honorary Member recognition in 2021, the highest award from the 150 year old Engineering Society.
Contact
Engineering Centers Building
1550 Engineering Drive
Madison, WI 53706
(608) 265-7953
dthoma@wisc.edu
Photo courtesy of Scott Parsons, DamnFineArt.com
Engineering Centers Building
This interactive engineering complex serves as a communication hub for hundreds of students and faculty and is a crucial link between the Engineering College and the campus. The myriad of activities happening within the facility are visually united by the building’s dramatic public space, a three-story atrium backed by a translucent screen system.
A hands-on discovery lab and auto shop provide design and fabrication space for undergraduate students competing in national engineering competitions. An innovation center offers woodworking, metal, and welding shops. Class-1,000 through Class-10 cleanrooms provide the controlled environments required for ongoing research in biomedical engineering, nano- and micro-technology, and plasma manufacturing. Also included are research labs, offices, and presentation spaces for graduate and undergraduate students.
Courtesy of Flad Architects, Flad.com