The Nevada Manufacturing Research Center - an entity designed to provide more research and project opportunities for university faculty and students and to be of service to the Southern Nevada community - recently was established at UNLV.

"The center will enhance the research activities of faculty members in the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering and the College of Business, while at the same time providing both undergraduate and graduate students at UNLV increased opportunities to work on realistic projects combining all aspects of manufacturing," said Zhiyong Wang, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and director of the new center. "Students will be exposed to the latest technological developments in manufacturing, which will prepare them well for entering the job market upon graduation," he said.

"While serving the students and faculty, the center also will provide service to the community by offering short courses and by providing assistance to local businesses with design, manufacturing, and management questions," Wang said. "This will aid the state in its attempts to diversify the state's economic base by attracting new businesses to Nevada."

The center is an outgrowth of the Nevada Manufacturing Research Initiative originally funded in 1999 by the two colleges. It will work closely with the Manufacturing Assistance Partnership - an industrial outreach program of the University and Community College System of Nevada.

For more information on the Nevada Manufacturing Research Center, call Wang at 895-3442 or Mohamed Trabia, associate professor of mechanical engineering, at 895-0957.