About the Rapid Center
An Innovative Partner
The College of Engineering and Technology houses the Rapid Center, a research and development center whose primary mission is to partner with businesses, industry and entrepreneurs to develop new products and processes. Within a dynamic environment for applied additive manufacturing and testing, our industry-experienced faculty and staff work with business partners to address their specific needs and to remove obstacles to product commercialization and process improvement. The Rapid Center fosters a culture of collaborative innovation helping clients refine existing products, develop new ones, and improve business practices.
At the same time, our engineering, technology, and construction students, working with faculty mentors work with The Rapid Center to address real-world problems for project sponsors while gaining applied experiences during their senior capstone project.
The Rapid Center’s offices, classrooms and labs are located in the Belk Building and Center for Applied Technology on the Cullowhee campus. Our facilities are fully equipped with professional software and hardware that meets, or exceeds, industry standards for product design, development, and advanced testing.
The Rapid Center serves businesses and industries throughout the Southeast and beyond, providing access to world-class product development resources while working to achieve our goals of economic transformation and engaged learning.
At the Rapid Center, businesses will find the both the engineering expertise and the facilities and equipment to get a project completed within budget and on time. Your intellectual property is protected, under contract, with our analysis and testing agreement (ATA).
We can:
- Match prototyping methods to advance development stage and requirements
- Evaluate form, fit, and function with rapid prototypes
- Field-test functional prototypes to help prevent costly tooling mistakes
- Verify specifications using contact and non-contact metrology equipment
- Optimize manufacturing methods with input from our experts
- Provide advice on intellectual property issues and agreements and more
In addition to technical assistance, we offer access to business resources and information
to help you move forward with successful commercialization of your product. Whether
you are a startup or established corporation, a small or large business, an inventor
or an entrepreneur, you will find we are fully engaged as partners with you in the
effort to find practical solutions that meet your needs.
To learn more about becoming a business partner with The Rapid Center, visit our Research and Development Partnerships page.
If you have a challenging project that deserves serious attention but without the pressure of an immediate solution or have attempted a solution without success, we invite you to submit a proposal for a Senior
Capstone project. Under the guidance of faculty and staff and your assistance as a
Mentor, our student teams will use a multi-disciplinary, stage/gate process to meet
deadlines and achieve results over two semesters (August to May). When your project
is complete, you will have project documentation, a fully tested prototype, project
solution or new knowledge that you can use or develop further.
To learn more about becoming a Rapid Center project sponsor, visit our Student Projects page.
Through The Rapid Center, you will be given an extraordinary opportunity to work on real projects – not just problems with known answers. You will use what you are learning in your courses and labs, integrate facts with good engineering practices, and address specific challenges – all to accomplish successful results. This project-based learning experience gives you a distinct advantage as you prepare for your professional career or further studies in graduate school.
Contact Us
387 Centennial Drive
Cullowhee, NC 28723
Map
Directions 828.227.2560 tel
rapidcenter@wcu.edu
