Service Network is spearheading an effort with Worcester Polytechnic Institute to form a grinding research center located in Worcester, MA, to launch industry consortiums. According to SNI's press release, the consortium is being introduced as a practical applications research consortium and will focus on improving member firms' grinding processes by studying key segments of the grinding process. Among the features of the consortium would be an abrasive products lab and surface metrology lab. WPI's current surface metrology lab is best known for its work on the measurement and characterization of surface textures and topography in diverse applications and for discoveries of the correlation between roughness, adhesion and friction. The lab's current work is key to abrasive process research since abrasive processes use surface topographies of the abrasive to create surfaces on the workpiece while the workpiece abrades the abrasive. The capability to examine this interaction helps harness potential improvements in the grinding process. Service Network contributes various levels of support including use of its OEM OD and ID precision grinding machines. Saint-Gobain joined WPI and Service Network as a co-sponsor.