Dr. Beuth's research interests are in the area of solid mechanics and manufacturing. Much of his research relates to his expertise in the areas of thermomechanical modeling of manufacturing processes, fracture mechanics, and the mechanics of coatings and layered materials. His current research includes work in three areas. One area currently being investigated relates to Mechanics of Electron and Laser Beam-Based Additive Manufacturing Processes, which are automated processes for directly building three-dimensional parts or features, layer-by-layer, via electron beam- or laser-based deposition. These processes are also referred to as direct digital manufacturing or solid freeform fabrication and offer an alternative means for fabricating metal parts for the aerospace and medical implant industries. Dr. Beuth and his students perform analyses to predict melt pool size and residual stress for these processes, presenting results in the form of "process maps" that process development researchers can use directly. Through collaborations with Prof. Nathan Klingbeil of Wright State University, process mapping methods have been extended to consider microstructure control and means for integrated control of melt pool geometry and microstructure. This research is being performed with manufacturing and materials researchers at other universities, aerospace companies and NASA. Another area of Dr. Beuth's research involves Developing and Application of a High Precision On-Chip Tensile Testing Platform for Polysilicon. An advantage of this platform is its ability to test large numbers of specimens quickly and with high resolution. Statistical characterization of polysilicon strength requires the testing of many samples, and results from this testing platform are being used to better understand the role of processing on strength. A most recent project in this area involves the testing and analysis of micro-scale strength size effects in polysilicon and metal alloys used in MEMS devices. This work is being carried out with Prof. Maarten de Boer of CMU and researchers at Sandia National Laboratories. Prof. Beuth is also working with Prof. Carolyn Rose' of the CMU Human-Computer Interaction Institute on an NSF-sponsored education project to more effectively teach students in computer-aided engineering projects. Projects involve students interacting with local or remote team members via a text and drawing interface. Student text interactions are monitored by an intelligent agent, which interjects comments and questions with the goal of increasing student engagement and learning. Multiple CMU ME faculty and students are involved in this project, as well as ME faculty at Drexel University (Prof. Jack Zhou) and the University of California at Santa Barbara (Prof. Glenn Beltz).