{"id":2368,"date":"2023-02-03T11:00:08","date_gmt":"2023-02-03T15:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ece.ncsu.edu\/?p=256601"},"modified":"2023-02-03T11:00:08","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T15:00:08","slug":"ece-graduate-students-cut-path-forward-with-innovative-invention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/2023\/ece-graduate-students-cut-path-forward-with-innovative-invention\/","title":{"rendered":"ECE graduate students cut path forward with innovative invention"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Electrical and computer engineering graduate students, Sam Marcom and Dario Muller, and their mechanical engineering teammate, Josh Cooper, are laying the groundwork for the future of the manufacturing industry. Their new innovative invention is intended to make CNC automation more compact and user-friendly than ever before.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nMarcom<\/span><\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0Muller<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0Cooper<\/span><\/a>, all of whom graduated with their bachelor\u2019s degrees in Mechanical Engineering, met during the 2021 Fall Semester in their Engineering Entrepreneurs Program (EEP) senior design course. Over the course of the past two years, these three students not only became close friends but also\u00a0<\/span>started their own business following the invention of a new manufacturing tool: the CN-Seamless.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Marcom, now an ECE master’s student, first saw the need for a new solution in CNC Automation while working at a steel mill in Virginia the summer before he began the EEP course.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey were always fabricating stuff out on the floor, so there was stuff that would break all the time; and it was big, heavy steel stuff; and they spent hours marking stuff out with a pen and paper and a ruler and they\u2019d cut it all by hand,\u201d Marcom said during an interview in January. \u201cI thought \u2018well, they should have a machine to do this.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Marcom, many companies; like the steel mill where he worked; have large plasma table machines that can offer some support in situations such as these, but they are large, immobile, and oftentimes unfeasible when a game-time fix is needed on the shop floor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enter the CN-Seamless, a lightweight and entirely mobile CNC oxy-acetylene torch-cutting product that Marcom, Muller and Cooper believe could revolutionize the fabrication process. Complete with an electromagnet base that mounts directly to any steel workpiece, tunable gas control that streamlines finding the perfect fuel ratio, and a user-focused touchscreen controller; the CN-Seamless is intended to be a tool that anyone can learn to use and implement into their workshops or on the job site in a matter of hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cooper had reservations at first about undertaking the development of this new ambitious tool, and he was not the only one.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was skeptical because you have to look at feasibility as one of the categories,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cWe\u2019re basically going to take a plasma table, shrink it, make it better, and make it something anyone can use with a great user experience \u2013 the feasibility was questioned, and when we had to present in class, that was one of the biggest pieces of feedback we got: \u2018this would be great if we could do it, but\u00a0<\/span>can<\/span><\/em>\u00a0you do it?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But do it they did.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"In January 2022, the team began building the first model of the CN-Seamless, and in about two months they had created a rough prototype. During a second prototyping phase, the team was able to solve several of the initial prototype\u2019s shortcomings, and in September of 2022, the team began work on the\u00a0<\/span>now-complete and fully functional Mach 1 version of the CN-Seamless product.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

The team particularly credits EEP Director Marshall Brain for his influence on the development of the CN-Seamless and for pushing the team to go beyond their comfort zones to develop a truly professional product that has the potential to greatly benefit the manufacturing industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the soul of that class,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be anywhere close to where we are now without his guidance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Muller said that the user-friendly nature of the CN-Seamless is what sets it apart from the competition and positions it at a unique advantage compared to similar products.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever you pick this machine up, the first thing you\u2019re going to touch will be the user interface, so we want to build a user interface that integrates with the rest of the machine and how somebody who does things by hand thinks,\u201d Muller said. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s really not on the market right now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to its small frame and durable design, the CN-Seamless weighs in at approximately 25 pounds, as opposed to similar products on the market that can be 200 pounds or more.<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea is that fabricators and machinists will be able to reach for the CN-Seamless like they would a drill or a hammer, just another tool that helps get the job done quicker and better than ever before.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cThe idea at the end of the day is to make this a seamless tool that helps workers in the field,\u201d Muller said. \u201cRather than trying to replace them or completely change the market, we\u2019re really trying to add something that people can rely on as their assistant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, the team is preparing to sell the CN-Seamless Mach-1 product program and eight companies have already signed letters of intent to purchase, including the steel mill where Marcom first began to develop the idea for the product.<\/span><\/p>\n

The team hopes to have the Mach 1 units complete by March, when they will be sent to the companies to have on-site for six months, at the end of which they will be replaced by the complete final production of CN-Seamless units that have been fine-tuned by industry feedback during the Mach 1 period.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the Mach 1 feedback collection period, the team also hopes to gauge interest in different attachments for the CN-Seamless to make it a truly modular experience where the user can go from using the original oxy-acetylene torch cutter to a plasma cutter or even a 3D-Printing attachment in just a matter of minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"The epitome of the entrepreneurial spirit, each of the three team members have all fully committed themselves to the CN-Seamless, and they continue to be laser-focused on making it the best product it can be, going to great lengths and working long hours to ensure they are doing everything they can to perfect their design.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cooper lives and works in Winston-Salem and commutes to Raleigh to work with his teammates, and he says what drives this endeavor to be successful is not only the drive, skills and knowledge that the team employs but also the friendship they share between them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSure, we\u2019re coworkers at this point. We have a company, we have a website, we\u2019re incorporated \u2013 we\u2019re doing the thing \u2013 but we\u2019re also really close friends,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cWe hang out, we enjoy each other\u2019s company, and this wouldn\u2019t work if I didn\u2019t like hanging out with these guys. That\u2019s definitely critical to our story.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To keep up to date with the CN-Seamless team and their work, or to find out how you can be involved with the CN-Seamless project,\u00a0<\/span>just visit the CN-Seamless website.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

View the original article here.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/div>\n

Electrical and computer engineering graduate students, Sam Marcom and Dario Muller, and their mechanical engineering teammate, Josh Cooper, are laying the groundwork for the future of the manufacturing industry. Their new innovative invention is intended to make CNC automation more compact and user-friendly than ever before. Marcom,\u00a0Muller\u00a0and\u00a0Cooper, all of whom graduated with their bachelor\u2019s degrees [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1867,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[419,179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grad-students","category-news"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1867"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2368"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2369,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368\/revisions\/2369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}