CMU 2010

Progress Report - April 2009

Final Round of Vision Fund Projects Endorsed by President Rao

More information, including a brief synopsis of each project and the amount of funding each will receive, on the 2009-10 Vision Fund projects receiving funding July 1, 2009 is available on our FY10 projects page. 

Key Performance Indicators

The following KPI has been updated with FY09 data:

Note:  Although this measure indicates fewer students participating in SRCEE in 2009 than in the last few years, there were more poster presentations and displays this year (371) than there were in 2007 (359) or 2008 (366).

Beyond 2010

Next Steps

As the university prepares for new leadership, the work behind the "Beyond 2010" plan will not be lost, but rather will remain in draft form for the new president to finalize.  Throughout the course of next year, we are hopeful that the new plan will provide presidential candidates a sense of what we're all about at CMU, and serve as a tool for finding a president who will share and understand those values of greatest importance to the CMU community. The work of finalizing our plan will provide an opportunity for the next president to interact with CMU’s many constituents, both on and off campus.  Your patience, continued support, and consistent participation in the creation of the next plan is appreciated.

 

Evaluating the Vision

The ad hoc Vision Evaluation Committee made a recommendation to the ISPC in late April to consider modifying the vision from its current state once new leadership is comfortable in leading the charge.  This recommendation will likely be reported to the Board of Trustees at their next meeting.

 

Beyond 2010 Blog

Since CMU's next strategic plan has been and will continue to be based on a solid foundation of university community feedback, we encourage you to contribute to our Beyond 2010 blog.  This tool will serve as our latest mechanism for collecting university-wide input on a plan that will continue to evolve over the next year in preparation for 2010, given the change in key leadership.  Please visit our blog and comment on any one (or all!) of our emerging strategic directions!

Click here to visit the blog.

 

Spotlight on Towards 2010:  Exploration of Functional Design Issues that Interface with the Human Body

Researchers:  Tanya Domina, Patrick Kinnicutt, Terry Lerch, Maureen MacGillivray

What does the future hold for the apparel and textile industry? As new fibers, finishes, apparel technologies, and consumer desires converge, the future is ripe with possibilities for collaborative design. Imagine a consumer who not only understands what he wants in terms of design, color, and texture in a garment, but also knows his exact body dimensions and how the thermal profile of his body responds to a run in a cold, humid environment or a hot, dry environment. This consumer can select the precise design, color, texture, fit, and thermal profile of the garment he desires-all at the touch of a button. That future is now. It is demonstrated by a university research project that is exploring design issues that interface with the human body.  Housed within the Center for Merchandising & Design Technology, the research team is utilizing a unique set of equipment: 1) to collaborate with industry partners to evaluate garments and special finishes on the body under different environmental conditions and levels of activity; 2) to use this information to develop a body mapping process that guides the development of customized apparel; and 3) to build a database of 3D body scans and thermal images that will allow for the thermal profiling of the human torso.

This unique set of equipment (3D body scanner, thermal cameras, and walk-in environmental chamber) has allowed the research team to work with a variety of industry partners to solve functional design problems, to test antimicrobial and phase change finishes, and work on prototype development.  Most recent industry collaborators include American Parkour, Reebok, Carhartt, Cuzz Athletics, Synergy Medical Group, Malden Mills, Aegis and Outlast.

Body mapping is the process of placing an individual’s 2D thermal images onto their 3D body-scan; this is achieved by image registration techniques called UV mapping.  The resulting mapped images may be manipulated and posed while retaining the thermal information.  Thermal profiling involves grouping individuals according to similar heat patterns and other demographic and physical attributes. It is expected that there is a discrete set of categories where the thermal profiles of all the subjects in each group correlate highly, but where variations exist between categories. Garments could then be efficiently mass customized to optimize the heat loss or retention in various zones of the torso based on consumer attributes.

Currently the database contains 3D body scans and thermal images of over 750 male and female subjects, aged from 16 to 92 years. The subject population consists of persons with sedentary to active lifestyles, diverse heights, weights, body mass index (BMI) ratios and somatotypes.  Currently, work is underway to set up the CMDT portal, which will enable researchers and companies to access the data base for data querying, visualization and analysis of demographic information, body fit and thermal profiles. Additionally, this information can be data mined to determine categories or “families” of thermal profiles in support of mass customization of functional apparel for effective thermoregulation and comfort. 

For additional information and some fascinating pictures, please view a PowerPoint of project highlights provided by these researchers.

Progress Report - A Change in Publishing Frequency

Given the limited amount of information surrounding the CMU 2010 Vision plan at the present time, the need for monthly updates may no longer exist.  Information relevant to the strategic plan will be published as it is available, may it be every month or every other month.  Much effort has been put into ensuring Beyond 2010 is as transparent as possible, so we ask that you visit the website for updates moving forward.

April 2009