PARC, a Xerox company, announced it has been chosen as part of a team of organizations – including Siemens, Georgia Institute of Technology (GT), and Michigan State University (MSU) – by the DARPA TRAansformative DESign (TRADES) program.
 
The goal of the multimillion dollar project is to develop a new digital modeling technology that will expand existing computer-aided design (CAD) software to design incredibly complex objects with superior functional properties that can still be manufactured with current manufacturing processes.
 
“This project will have significant impact for high-performance products in specialized industries such as aerospace, defense, automotive, energy production, manufacturing tooling, medical devices and consumer products,” said Dr. Suraj Musuvathy, senior scientist, Siemens Corporate Technology. “Our team provides a one-of-a-kind combination of skills. Siemens’ and GT’s experience in CAD systems provide unique insight into how typical users think about and react to different methodologies. Michigan State University provides a strong background in multidisciplinary optimization.  Siemens and PARC are long-time experts in, and users of, additive manufacturing and composite technologies, providing the team access to engineers and material scientists with extensive experience in commercial applications.”
 
Through the DARPA TRADES project, this team aims to further expand those capabilities to create a new approach for designing models with billions of geometric attributes and manufacturing these highly complex objects.
 
“Using the new techniques we are developing with Siemens, GT and MSU, many products could be engineered to be more durable and lighter, while also providing far better performance,” said Saigopal Nelaturi, PARC researcher and lead on this project. “This includes rotating, turbo machinery in jet engines, gas turbines, electric motors, and generators, where a lot of engineering goes into controlling the parts as they rotate faster and come under load.”