The Department of Engineering Technology (ET) hosted a workshop last week to address the transformation of industrial manufacturing in the 21st century and the impact of new technologies that herald innovative productivity solutions in a sector once considered in decline.
“New Horizons for Next Generation Manufacturing” brought engineering students, industry leaders, and CoE faculty together for lectures on advances in electronics manufacturing, design solutions for the aircraft industry, robotics, the evolution of urban manufacturing, engineering and food production, and aquaculture/algae for biofuels. Collaborative opportunities in next-generation manufacturing, as well as opportunities and scholarships for students, were also covered.
The workshop was capped by a tour of Innovation Studio, and a student robotics competition.
Dr. Richard Chiou speaks at the workshop.
Under the leadership of Dr. Richard Chiou, associate professor in the department, the workshop was sponsored by the US Department of Education and CoE’s Department of Engineering Technology. Opening remarks were presented by Dr. Kapil R. Dandekar, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Chiou summarized the workshop’s goals in prepared materials: “It is clear that the manufacturing field of the 21st century needs unique contributions and novel approaches to solving today’s complex challenges and those of the future. All companies need to be better positioned to integrate these new technologies into their manufacturing and business practices in order to remain competitive in the global economy.”
The workshop targeted, in particular, enabling technologies and research advances in future manufacturing.
Presenters included: Michael Prestoy of the American Competitiveness Institute; Janusz W. Romanski of Piasecki Aircraft Corporation and Society of Manufacturing Engineers and Professor Wlodzimierz Adamski of the Rzeszow University of Technology, Poland; Bill Tseng of the University of Texas at El Paso; Steve Jurash of the Manufacturing Alliance of Philadelphia; Brookes A. Britcher of Britcher Consulting LLC; and Dr. Michael G. Mauk, assistant professor, ET.