Core Competencies

Missouri S&T has been actively working in the area of M/D/P technologies for the past decade. Missouri S&T has been engaged in the area of sensor development, embedded prognostics, agent-based decision support, and wireless communication technologies of industrial machinery/components. Several of these technologies are currently in production use. Several million dollars worth of funding has been awarded from federal and state agencies, and industries. At least 17 patents have been awarded to the Missouri S&T faculty in this area. Some of the success stories relevant to M/D/P include: prognostic agent on a chip, smart wireless sensor network for remote monitoring, oil life monitoring, tire pressure monitoring and prognostic and smart portable service tools. These technologies have resulted in significant cost savings to industries. The proposed site at Missouri S&T will bring value to its members by demonstrating high-impact technologies as well as by harnessing business alliances through test beds. Missouri S&T's core competencies include:


(1) Sensing and Monitoring: sensing techniques (e.g. cable sensors), wireless sensor networking and hardware (Missouri S&T mote), and system on a chip;
(2) Diagnostics and Prognostics: sensor data fusion, neural networks and fuzzy logics based decision making, and agent based decision support; and
(3) Advanced Simulation: virtual reality based simulation and virtual prototyping."+ Possible research topics that can be conducted by the Center site at Missouri S&T include:"+

  • Smart Computational Prognostic Agent

    • Prognostic algorithms for predicting degradation, life and performance loss

    • Decision making and control

  • Web-Enabled Training Device to Business

    • Optimization of maintenance and production/service scheduling

    • Web-based maintenance technology for M/D/P and smart portable service tools

    • Degradation modeling for service value chain optimization

    • Knowledge acquisition, decision making and data mining

  • Embedded Wireless Sensor Networking Technology

    • Embedded sensor hardware, prognostics/diagnostics on a chip, remote monitoring

    • Wireless-based portable service tools for M/D/P

By serving as a center of excellence for the creation and dissemination of knowledge in intelligence e-maintenance systems, the proposed center intends to impact next-generation product, manufacturing and service systems with six-sigma quality.

Industry Relevance: Demonstration of an advanced on-board M/D/P system is contingent upon developing and integrating intelligent sensor-based agents with these systems. The M/D/P system will provide not only advanced capabilities, such as improved safety, but also it will reduce maintenance and operating costs, minimizes secondary and catastrophic failures and finally it will extend the useful life of industrial components. If the component's life is estimated on-board and ahead, then just-in-time maintenance can be performed. This Center intends to solve various industry-related M/D/P problems.

Leveraging Existing IMS Center:The overall IMS Center (www.imscenter.net) is engaged in industry- relevant, intelligent maintenance research work. The vision of the Center is to enable products to sustain near-zero downtime performance through the advancement of web-enabled predictive infotronics and tether-free technologies, including smart computational prognostic agents, device-to-business platform, as well as self-maintenance design methodologies. The IMS Center at UC and UM is currently supported by 15 industrial members. Every six months, the investigators of the IMS Center present their latest research results and propose plans by engaging the members in a one and half day event called IAB meeting. Day two is a half day program geared towards business aspects and implications of the consortium-based Center membership. The research results from the existing IMS Center will be available to all membership companies joining the proposed Missouri S&T site.