WCU's Kimmel School forms a bridge between the academy and the economy; Engineering students develop skills through project-based experience while entrepreneurs get prototypes for new products and processes.

Picture a portal that links entrepreneurs and innovators on one side with university engineers, researchers and students on the other. Now imagine a two-way flow of information that results in improved products and enhanced processes as well as more highly skilled engineering students with project-based experience, That combination creates a powerful force for change, and it's happening at Western Carolina University's Kimmel School in the Center for Rapid Product Realization, known as the Rapid Center.

"The Rapid Center is beautifully positioned to bridge the academy and the economy," says Dr. Robert McMahan Jr., who became dean of the Kimmel School in March. "We're building relationships that give companies access to our extensive resources and to the professional expertise of our faculty who have years of experience in industry. Our business colleagues take away more than a report. We work with them to transition an idea from the concept stage into a finished product or service that adds value to their organization while making them more globally competitive. And, together, through our students' involvement with these complex projects, we are helping to prepare the next-generation work force."

Danny Heatherly of Timberclad in Canton knows about complex projects. He brought his idea for artificial poplar bark siding to WCU's Rapid Center and asked for help developing something that would look like natural wood but could be made of less expensive materials. "We scanned the tree bark and replicated every detail," says Dr. Phil Sanger, director of the Rapid Center, "but it was too exact. Our rapid prototyping equipment is so precise that it had difficulty with all the details, so we backed off a bit, created a sample in ABS (plastic) and then spray painted it to simulate the colors of real tree bark."

"I was tickled to work with them," says Heatherly, who has contracted with a national company to produce artificial poplar bark with favorable fire ratings. "Once I get this thing on the market, it's going to go worldwide, and we can say it was developed right here in Western North Carolina."

Through its partnership with Clemson University and UNC Charlotte in the Carolinas MicroOptics Triangle, a research alliance designed to develop fiber-optic communication capacity, the Rapid Center helped Hickory-based US Conec design prototypes for connectors that link fibers smaller than the width of a single hair. "With the university's help, we can...