Since its inception in 1986, the Wayne State University Institute for Manufacturing Research (IMR) has been a very active addition to the university.  The institute has proven to be an excellent venue for dozens of university scientists from many different disciplines to work with one another and with local industry on new and exciting research projects.  Guided by a steering committee, which includes members from industry, and funded in part from the State of Michigan's Research Excellence Fund, the IMR is following its mission to "enhance and extend Wayne State University's existing technological strength in areas of manufacturing research which have demonstrated beneficial potential for the state's economy."  The IMR's staff of full-time and adjunct faculty members conduct basic and applied research, and are developing many commercially significant products and processes.

IMR's success has a strong foundation in its interdisciplinary and industrial interactions.  In this unique environment, engineers, chemists and physicists work closely together, sharing their expertise and insights.  The give-and-take atmosphere helps the scientists to learn from and build upon one another's research.  This, in turn, helps them not only to develop their ideas much more quickly, but also to expand the possibilities.  Likewise, IMR researchers have found a great source of inspiration and assistance in the scientists and representatives of local industry.  The metropolitan Detroit area, which is becoming more and more well known as a center of high technology and innovation, has hundreds of large and small industries interested in making their mark on the next century.  By combining industry's knowledge about the future needs and desires of society, the university's great technical resources, and the pooled expertise of researchers from a variety of fields, the Institute for Manufacturing Research has become a dynamic research wing of Wayne State University.