Mississippi State University (MSU) and the
Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (Kitech), which have been working together since 2012, are advancing their longstanding relationship with a renewed set of agreements designed to ‘drive joint research, innovation and workforce development in advanced manufacturing and industrial technology’.
The updated partnership will focus on academic exchanges and research collaborations and pave the way for new joint projects. For example, MSU’s Centre for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS), and Kitech’s Research Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology are working together to jointly establish a Centre for Root Technologies, which will focus on core manufacturing technologies such as casting, moulding, welding/joining, and other related fields.
The formal partnership includes a memorandum of understanding, international research collaboration agreement, and a memorandum outlining the Centre for Root Technologies, which were all signed in August during the recent
US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology, and Entrepreneurship in Atlanta.
MSU supports multiple lines of research and outreach programmes that enhance the development of industrial technology and related workforce opportunities. MSU’s CAVS manages a steel research facility and advanced additive manufacturing equipment; it also has a facility that provides training and technical support for Mississippi manufacturers.
Clay Walden, CAVS’s executive director, said: “As our region continues to see significant investments in manufacturing facilities, we are well-positioned to help manufacturers implement the innovative practices that are being developed in our labs. I am pleased that our researchers are to continue working with Kitech in areas that are critical to the future success of US and Korean industry. The agreements provide pathways for the exchange of technical and scientific information, joint participation in industrial research projects, faculty/student exchanges, joint seminars, international proposal development — and more.”