The Sustainable Manufacturing Systems Research Laboratory (SMSRL) was established in January 2011 in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The research lab works on various aspects of advanced/sustainable manufacturing research including but not limited to advanced, intelligent and sustainable manufacturing processes, 3D/4D printing processes and environmental sustainability, joint production and energy modeling and control, electricity demand response of manufacturing systems, electric vehicle battery remanufacturing and reliability assessment, economic viability of cellulosic biofuel manufacturing, and intelligent maintenance of manufacturing systems.

The founding director of the SMSRL is Dr. Lin Li. Dr. Lin Li received the B.E. degree in mechanical engineering and B.A. degree in Business Administration from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2001, and the M.S.E. degree in mechanical engineering, M.S.E. degree in industrial and operations engineering, Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering all from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 2003, 2005 and 2007, respectively. Currently, he is a Professor and Director of Industrial Engineering Program in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering in UIC. He is also the Director of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Assessment Center at UIC.

The project sponsors include U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors, Eaton Corporation, General Electric, etc.