Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing Established by UK Board

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 27, 2012) – The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees today approved the establishment of the Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing (ISM) in the UK College of Engineering.

The ISM will serve as a leading international organization committed to the development and deployment of sustainable manufacturing technologies for products, processes and systems for significantly enhancing productivity, efficiency and quality through its research and outreach.

A multidisciplinary academic research institute, the ISM will pursue basic and applied research with the goal of producing new technology for next generation manufacturing.  It will also engage in technology transfer/deployment and industry outreach for effective dissemination of the new knowledge generated.

The ISM will be a unique university-based institute worldwide, focusing on sustainability from a manufacturing perspective. Because it will serve as a model for how cross-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research can be brought to bear successfully on urgent 21st century problems, the ISM will help bring talented students and faculty with relevant expertise to UK.

"Bringing faculty together from a number of different colleges, departments and centers will create synergies that enable more ambitious and effective research projects in sustainable manufacturing and the successful pursuit of large-scale cross disciplinary funding," said UK College of Engineering Dean Tom Lester.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Jenny Wells, jenny.wells@uky.edu; (859) 257-5343