{"677237":{"#nid":"677237","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Innovation at Scale: Georgia Tech Unveils New Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing Pilot Facility","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhether it\u2019s developing new products, reducing costs, or increasing accessibility, innovations in manufacturing stand to improve the lives of companies and consumers alike. Georgia Tech recently took another step toward ensuring those innovations make it from lab to market with the launch of a Modular Pilot Scale Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing Facility.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs researchers develop new materials, one of the key aspects we\u2019re missing is how to make them at scale. This is a major oversight because if we can\u2019t make them at scale, we can\u2019t transition from basic research to commercialization,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/harris\u0022\u003ETequila Harris\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWith this new facility, we can prove our discoveries beyond lab-scale studies \u2014 and can go from materials innovation to product development at scale.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELed by Harris, the new facility is the result of a partnership between the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/manufacturing\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Manufacturing Institute\u003C\/a\u003E(GTMI), the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/energy\u0022\u003EStrategic Energy Institute\u003C\/a\u003E, and the Woodruff School. As a pilot facility, it will serve as a testbed for scaling up manufacturing research open for Georgia Tech researchers as well as academic, government, and industry partners around the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe larger vision I see at Georgia Tech involves innovation in manufacturing for large-scale industries,\u201d said Georgia Tech\u2019s Interim Executive Vice President for Research \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/people\/timothy-charles-lieuwen\u0022\u003ETim Lieuwen\u003C\/a\u003E at the facility\u2019s unveiling event on Sept. 19. \u201cIt\u2019s crucial that we\u2019re innovating in basic science and technology, but we also need to be innovating in large-scale manufacturing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERoll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing transforms flexible rolls of substrate materials, such as paper, metal foils, and plastics, into more complex, transportable rolls upon coating the surface with one or more fluids, such as inks, suspensions, and solutions, which are subsequently dried or cured on the base substrate. Its high yield and efficiency make R2R an ideal method for the sustainable, large-scale production of components for solar cells, batteries, flexible electronics, and separations \u2014 all industries that have expanded in Georgia in recent years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs a state institution, we\u2019re ultimately here to serve our state,\u201d said Lieuwen, who is also Regents\u2019 Professor and David S. Lewis Jr. Chair in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EDaniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing Georgia emerge as the national leader in terms of recruiting corporate investments in this space and in industries that will be served by this facility.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERoll-to-Roll Innovations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe R2R process is similar to the production of newspapers, where a large roll of blank paper goes through a series of rollers printing text and photos. \u201cThe roll-to-roll aspect is the process of using a specialized tool to force fluid onto a moving surface,\u201d says Harris. It\u2019s one of the fastest-growing methods for producing thin film materials \u2014 photovoltaics used in solar cells, transistors in flexible electronics, and micro-batteries, for example \u2014 at a large scale.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHarris\u2019s group works to develop novel manufacturing tools, with a particular focus on understanding and improving the dynamics of thin film manufacturing to increase efficiency and minimize waste. Her group is particularly interested in slot die coating, an R2R technique where a liquid material is precisely deposited onto a substrate through a narrow slot. With the new pilot facility, researchers like Harris will be able to take their work to the next level.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSlot die coating on a roll-to-roll can handle the broadest viscosity range of most coating methods. Therefore, you can process a lot of different materials very quickly and easily,\u201d says Harris. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the fastest-growing technologies in the U.S. \u2014 and currently, this is the most advanced modular pilot scale facility at an academic university in the United States.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech is way ahead of the curve in terms of our facilities,\u201d says GTMI Executive Director and Regents\u2019 Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/people\/thomas-kurfess\u0022\u003EThomas Kurfess\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cThis will grow our capability in the battery area, membranes, flexible electronics, and more to allow us to support the development of new technologies.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs technologies around cleantech continue to advance at an unprecedented pace,\u0026nbsp;pilot manufacturing facilities provide a critical bridge between innovative benchtop research and commercial-scale production and manufacturing,\u201d says \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/people\/christine-conwell\u0022\u003EChristine Conwell\u003C\/a\u003E, interim executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute. \u201cWe are excited about the opportunities this R2R facility will provide to the Georgia Tech energy community and our industry partners.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOpen for use by academic, government, and industry partners alike, the facility will serve as a test bed for scaling up manufacturing innovations in areas like clean water, flexible electronics, and solar cell and battery production, bringing discoveries one step closer to market viability.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The facility will serve as a test bed for scaling up manufacturing innovations in areas like clean water, flexible electronics, and solar cell and battery production, bringing discoveries one step closer to market viability."}],"uid":"35575","created_gmt":"2024-10-01 20:44:10","changed_gmt":"2024-12-09 17:36:57","author":"adavidson38","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-10-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-10-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675207":{"id":"675207","type":"image","title":"R2R-ribbon-cutting-large.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EPartners of the facility gathered for an official ribbon cutting ceremony. From left to right: Eric Vogel, Hightower Professor in MSE, and executive director for the Institute for Matter and Systems; Devesh Ranjan, Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. school chair and professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering; Julia Kubanek, Vice President of Interdisciplinary Research; Tequila Harris, professor in the Woodruff School and facility leader; Christine Conwell, interim executive director for the Strategic Energy Institute; Tim Liewen, interim executive vice president for Research; Thomas Kurfess, Regent\u0027s Professor in the Woodruff School and executive director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute; J. Carson Meredith, professor and James Preston Harris Faculty Fellow in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, executive director of the Renewable Bioproducts Institute. \u003Cem\u003EPhoto: Christopher McKenney.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1727958389","gmt_created":"2024-10-03 12:26:29","changed":"1727958389","gmt_changed":"2024-10-03 12:26:29","alt":"Partners of the facility gathered for an official ribbon cutting ceremony. ","file":{"fid":"258808","name":"R2R-ribbon-cutting-large.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/03\/R2R-ribbon-cutting-large.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/03\/R2R-ribbon-cutting-large.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4467955,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/10\/03\/R2R-ribbon-cutting-large.jpg?itok=a-jHkOJL"}},"675205":{"id":"675205","type":"image","title":"Tequila-Harris-R2R-facility.jpeg","body":"\u003Cp\u003ETequila Harris, professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, next to the modular R2R equipment. \u003Cem\u003EPhoto: Christopher McKenney.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1727958229","gmt_created":"2024-10-03 12:23:49","changed":"1727958229","gmt_changed":"2024-10-03 12:23:49","alt":"Tequila Harris, professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, next to the modular R2R equipment. Photo: Christopher McKenney.","file":{"fid":"258806","name":"Tequila-Harris-R2R-facility.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/03\/Tequila-Harris-R2R-facility.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/03\/Tequila-Harris-R2R-facility.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":749740,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/10\/03\/Tequila-Harris-R2R-facility.jpeg?itok=Ckl666SI"}},"675206":{"id":"675206","type":"image","title":"HARRiS-research-group.jpeg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Highly Advanced Roll-to-Roll iManufacturing Systems (HARRiS) research group in the new R2R facility. \u003Cem\u003EPhoto: Christopher McKenney.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1727958252","gmt_created":"2024-10-03 12:24:12","changed":"1727958252","gmt_changed":"2024-10-03 12:24:12","alt":"The Highly Advanced Roll-to-Roll iManufacturing Systems (HARRiS) research group in the new R2R facility. Photo: Christopher McKenney.","file":{"fid":"258807","name":"HARRiS-research-group.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/03\/HARRiS-research-group.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/03\/HARRiS-research-group.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":883349,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/10\/03\/HARRiS-research-group.jpeg?itok=tZNCyXDB"}}},"media_ids":["675207","675205","675206"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t\u0026source=web\u0026rct=j\u0026opi=89978449\u0026url=https:\/\/tharris.gatech.edu\/group\/\u0026ved=2ahUKEwjvqOOZhu6IAxX45ckDHfDtLG8QFnoECDEQAQ\u0026usg=AOvVaw2DKj6pVWVW4636oINcFIag","title":"Highly Advanced Roll-to-Roll iManufacturing Systems (HARRiS) Group"},{"url":"https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/faces-research-meet-tequila-l-harris","title":"Faces of Research - Meet Tequila A. L. Harris"}],"groups":[{"id":"155831","name":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)"},{"id":"660369","name":"Matter and Systems"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186857","name":"go-gtmi"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"},{"id":"188020","name":"go-rbi"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"},{"id":"193652","name":"Matter and Systems"},{"id":"39491","name":"Renewable Bioproducts"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:audra.davidson@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAudra Davidson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EResearch Communications Program Manager\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Tech Manufacturing Institute\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Audra.davidson@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}