Teaching Labs

0016 & 0020 Black

The Industrial Design Laboratory provides senior students with the opportunity to practice comprehensive engineering and communication skills, while simultaneously honing personal effectiveness skills, through the development and completion of an industrial design project supplied by companies from around the state of Iowa.

0036 Black

The Metrology Laboratory contains a variety of advanced measuring and fixturing systems including four CMMs, two digital image capture systems, a digital surface profilometer, a variety of digital and manual measurement tools and a modular fixturing system.

1070B Black

The Machining Processes Laboratory contains equipment for metal machining, surface finish measurements and metal cutting theory experiments. The lab contains two vertical and one horizontal milling machine, two engine lathes, a milling machine to study orthogonal cutting, toolmaker’s microscope and a profilometer for measuring surface roughness.

1098 Black

The metalcasting laboratory has the capability of producing castings via chemically bonded sand molds, permanent molds, and the lost foam process. Melting is done in an induction melting furnace, with the ability to melt up to 200 pounds of aluminum per hour. Finishing of the components is done with a sandblasting unit.

1070 Black

The Polymer Processing Laboratory has a plastic injection molding machine, providing the opportunity to study the effect of process variables and designs while utilizing various mold designs.

1070, 1092, and 1098 Black

Material testing equipment includes two Shimadzu tensile testing machines, an Instron fatigue tester, three Rockwell hardness testers by Leco, Brinell hardness tester and a Charpy impact machine. Forming equipment includes a laboratory rolling mill and equipment for deep drawing operations.

1072 Black

This computer laboratory is dedicated to support advanced manufacturing classes. CAD programs include SolidWorks, Solid Edge, AutoCAD and ProEngineer. MasterCAM and Vericut are used for CNC program writing and verification. Four HAAS CNC machining simulators are used to prove out the machining code before actually producing the part.

1076 Black

Four Haas CNC vertical milling machines are used in several classes to teach CNC programming and machining. One of the machines is equipped with a Renishaw probing and tool setting system, and an optional 4th axis of control.

1092 Black

An array of welding processes including gas metal arc, gas tungsten arc, flux core arc, submerged arc, and resistance welding are available to support teaching and research. A robotic arc welding cell and a CNC plasma cutter are located in this lab.

Sukup Hall

The Industrial Automation Lab is designed to prepare students for working with basic AC/DC electrical circuits, as well as a variety of industrial sensors, bar code readers, RFID tags and readers and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC’s). The lab equipment includes an Alien RFID reader/programmer, a 2D programmable bar-code reader, an Allen Bradley PLC with light sensors, a powered conveyor and pneumatic push-bars, a transducer test board with over 40 different sensors and actuators, and a digital oscilloscope and voltmeter. The space is shared with the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.

0006 Black

0028 Black

The main computing laboratory has 28 PCs with a host of software utilized by IMSE students and researchers. The lab is used as a classroom periodically, otherwise accessible 24 hours a day.