Filling the talent pipeline in careers like industrial engineering and advanced manufacturing remains at the top of many a Michigan manufacturer's mind these days, including leaders in both academia and industry.
Lawrence Technological University has made it that much easier to do so with the recent opening of a new $500,000 industrial engineering lab. The lab, dubbed the Siemens Electro-Matic Industrial Engineering Laboratory, is located in the Engineering Building on the school’s Southfield campus.
"Our mission is to produce engineers who will be the leaders of tomorrow," says Nabil Grace, dean of LTU’s College of Engineering.
"Our graduates hit the ground running in their professional careers thanks in large part to LTU’s partnerships with Siemens and other forward-thinking companies that provide invaluable support to the University."
The new lab includes a conveyor line and robot, Programmable Logic Control units, a programmable instrument panel from a RAM 1500 truck, industrial workstation, assembly area, and a coordinate measurement machine.
According to the university, students will use the lab to study industrial engineering-related issues like production line-fatigue and the optimal placement of robots, sensors, and parts bins on the factory floor.
Siemens was also recently named the school’s Corporate Partner of the Year.
"We are a proud partner of LTU, and we are grateful for this recognition. It’s truly great to see how LTU is driving the education of the next generation of digital talent. High tech jobs in manufacturing in the United States have a great growth potential. To reach this potential, our education and training must address the demand for digital skills," says Raj Batra, an LTU alumnus and president of Siemens Digital Industries US.
"The opening of this first Industrial Engineering Lab is a milestone putting top-notch technologies into the hands of manufacturing’s next generation."
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