Welcome to the PEARL webpage. This is one of the research groups at The University of Toledo (UT) affiliated with the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (MIME). We are a small group of dedicated individuals with the goal of learning about and improving the technology related to mechanical design and manufacturing in the context of realizing macro- and micro- products. Specifically, we focus on computer-aided design and manufacturing. For a list of other faculty at UT that do research in various aspects of computer-aided design and manufacturing please look at the faculty listings in the MIME department.

The goals of this group are to:

• Conduct high quality research that improves the technology in computer-aided mechanical design and manufacturing for product realization.
• Establish collaboration with other faculty and students at UT and at other institutions to work together on problems of increasing complexity and diversity (anyone interested in joining this group is welcome).
• Establish collaboration with industries to ensure that the research conducted by this group is put to use immediately.
• Encourage undergraduate students to pursue higher studies and provide them with early research experiences.
• Provide an open and conducive environment where faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students share ideas and help each other to bring out the best in each individual.

The research in this group broadly focuses on "Geometric Modeling for Design and Manufacturing as Applied to Emerging Technologies of the Information Age". We focus on two ways in which emerging technologies can impact computer-aided design and manufacturing including geometric modeling:

• New Modeling Paradigms for New Applications: Emerging processes (e.g., micro- and nano-fabrication, layered manufacturing), materials (e.g., smart materials), and devices (e.g., micro- and nano-electromechanical systems), require new modeling paradigms and better computer-aided design and manufacturing tools.
• New Modeling Paradigms for Existing Applications: Emerging technologies such as the Internet enhance the scope of existing applications and, in turn, require new modeling paradigms for a seamless coexistance, e.g., distributed manufacturing, collaborative design.

In addition, we also focus on improving traditional computer-aided design and manufacturing applications.

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This group's sponsors are the National Science Foundation and University of Toledo. Past sponsors include the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and Iowa State University.