Product Development

Does your company have problems with product development? Do your engineers have the bandwidth to create new products? Are the products you create too costly to prototype efficiently? If so, you’re not alone. According to Vermont Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), engineers only spend 20% of their time working on value added product development since the majority of their time is spent working on existing products.

Does your company need

To develop new products, but does not have the engineering resources?
A Finite Element Analysis study, but does not have the necessary software?
To create a 3D print, but does not have the equipment or access to a printer?
To re-design a part, but needs help with parts of the redesign?
To create a model of a legacy part, but does not have the time and people to model the part?

If so, we may be able to help. NC State’s Industry Expansion Solutions (IES) offers small and medium manufacturers access to the knowledge and ability of NC State students. With the cost and time that prototyping requires, IES offers a solution that matches NC State engineering students with North Carolina manufacturers to assist with creating new products or updating legacy parts.

IES can

Help your company complete work without having to add a position or without having to buy costly software
Help your company complete projects in weeks, not months

The Process

NCSU students, working under the supervision of an IES subject matter expert, will be assigned to your project.
We meet with your staff tasked with project, either in person or on site or remotely, and create a plan to complete the project
Students would work remotely, meeting with your staff however often both parties agree on
IES can provide access to various 3D printers and 3D printing solutions to print your part
IES can also provide drawings, models, FEA results, animations of parts and other capabilities to help your company successfully work through your product development

A little about SOLIDWORKS

SolidWorks is a solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) program that creates effective 3D models utilizing a parametric feature-based approach. It can use Finite Element Analysis (FEA) or Simulation to allow models to be subjected to real-world forces, allowing for easier product development.

SolidWorks is also able to animate your model, showing how things move, where pieces go in a model and allowing future clients to see the inner workings of your product without the need to have a fully functional, tangible prototype on site.

IES can then 3D print your prototypes using the standardized .STL file, making sure the part is functional and determining whether a product can be produced effectively using Additive Manufacturing. IES has its own in-house 3D printer and has access to other rapid prototyping tools from 3rd parties via the North Carolina Manufacturers Extension Partnership (NCMEP).

IES can meet with clients if they want to explore whether this would be a helpful service to the manufacturer.

Our work with you can lead to…

Increasing product offerings for your company
Allowing a company’s engineers to focus on day to day work rather than innovation
Introducing new manufacturing possibilities (Additive Manufacturing)