UCI’s Advanced Casting Research Center
Announces Affiliation with Ohio State

ACRC conducts collaborative research in metal processing and manufacturing


Irvine, CA. October 12, 2022 - The Advanced Casting Research Center (ACRC) located at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) announced its first affiliated branch at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. This affiliation will provide members and industry with expanded research capabilities, facilities and resources, and geographic impact in metal casting and digital manufacturing.

Diran Apelian, distinguished professor at UCI’s Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering, founded ACRC in 1984. Under his direction, it has grown to be the largest industry-university consortia in North America dedicated to collaborative research in metal processing and manufacturing. The organization brings fundamental understanding to existing processes, develops new methods and alloys, and addresses management-technology interface issues with clear industrial applications. Carl Söderhjelm, associate director of ACRC since 2019, oversees several key projects and spearheads the building of a modern metal casting facility at UCI.

Some of ACRC’s current research projects include work in data management, thermal management and machine learning. More detail about ACRC’s research can be found at: http://acrc.manufacturing.uci.edu/

Apelian said, “It has been said that those willing to collaborate will succeed; those refusing to will be left behind. It is so true. Alan Luo and I have been collaborating since 1989! This is a partnership that is based on trust, but more importantly on the vision of how collectively we can serve the metal casting and manufacturing industry. Having an ACRC branch at Ohio State is a win-win for all involved, particularly for our consortium members and our students, who are the future”.

With the oversight of the ACRC Board of Directors, the ACRC consortium has grown to ~40 corporate members. This latest affiliation with Ohio State will not only provide the alliance with a Midwestern footprint, it will allow the consortium to bring in enterprises from the manufacturing basin of the nation. This expansion will cement ACRC’s mission of being the premiere metal processing industry-university alliance serving corporate members and educating future industry leaders.

Apelian will continue to serve as director of ACRC at the headquarters on the UCI campus, along with Söderhjelm. Luo will serve as site director of ACRC at Ohio State. Luo is professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Integrated Systems Engineering at Ohio State. He is also the director of Ohio State’s Lightweight Materials and Manufacturing Research Laboratory. Professor Luo brings substantial expertise to research in lightweight materials, advanced and sustainable manufacturing processes including multi-material manufacturing, and integrated computational materials engineering.

According to Luo, “This affiliation with ACRC-UCI allows us to be a one-of-its-kind center in the global foundry industry for fostering industry-academic collaboration with top-notch researchers. The state of Ohio is home to the largest number of foundries in the nation. Ohio State has an internationally renowned metal casting program and a research foundry dating back to 1968. The foundry at Ohio State University is located at the Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence (CDME), a state-of-the-art manufacturing research and education facility on west campus. The ACRC-Ohio State affiliation will also provide us with an opportunity to bring in new members with fresh voices and ideas, as well as new additional research projects for our students and staff researchers.” 


About the University of California, Irvine
Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.

About The Ohio State University

The Ohio State University is a 21st-century land-grant institution founded in 1870 and located in Columbus, OH, the Midwest's fastest-growing metropolitan area. It is one of the premiere research institutions in the world offering over 120 majors and dedicating over $1.2 billion to research in 2020-2021. Ohio State is dedicated to creating and discovering knowledge to improve the well-being of local, state, regional, national, and global communities through academics, research, health care, and community engagement. Visit https://www.osu.edu/ for more information.