Project Grant 2309828

This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation, under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), provides $481,998 to support research at the University of California, Berkeley on developing a new additive manufacturing process for multi-material and multi-functional part fabrication. The principal investigator will conduct fundamental research into a charge-programmed additive microfabrication technique to rapidly pattern different structural, conducting, and functional materials in a three-dimensional layout with high precision and speed. This new manufacturing knowledge is intended to enable the additive production of parts combining electronic and structural materials that can catalyze technologies supporting industries such as energy, healthcare, robotics, electronics, aerospace, and automotive. Outcomes will include analytical modeling, simulations, and experiments to elucidate effects on fluid flow, kinetics, catalysts and material properties relevant to the new process. The effort will demonstrate multi-functional prototype devices to validate the approach for applications in smart materials, robotics, and communications.