Equipment helps UWP students gain hands-on manufacturing experience
UWP faculty and staff members Charlie Knox (left), Swaminathan Balachandran (center, back) and Clyde Holverson (right) took part in a workshop in August where they trained on new computer integrated manufacturing equipment that will be used in engineering and industrial studies classes this fall.
PLATTEVILLE - At the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, students don't just learn from reading a book. They gain practical, hands-on experiences as well.
Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) equipment upgraded over the summer at UWP will allow faculty to better prepare engineering and industrial technology students for their future careers. CIM equipment is the system of computers, programmable logic controllers, conveyors, automated storage and retrieval devices, robots and other production machinery used to increase flexibility and productivity.
The College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science has upgraded their CIM equipment incrementally over the last three years at a total cost of $130,000, said Clyde Holverson, UWP mechanical technology specialist. Similar equipment is used in the industrial technology management program. The investments are important so that future engineers and industry professionals are best prepared to work with equipment they will encounter in real-world manufacturing operations. The CIM equipment used in class laboratories at UWP are the same systems used in industry, except on a smaller scale.
"The whole idea is to be able to give a student experience that would be comparable to a real-world setting," Holverson said.
Along with UWP faculty members Swaminathan Balachandran, professor of industrial engineering, and Charlie Knox, assistant professor of industrial studies, Holverson recently took part in a technology workshop to help educators get acclimated to the new equipment. The trio traveled to Jeffersonville, Ind., in early August to attend a workshop at the Amatrol Technology Transfer Institute, an organization that provides industrial training equipment and curriculum for industry and higher education.
"[The workshop] gave us more practice and more information. It was a chance for us to become more familiar with the system," Knox said. "The value for the students is the opportunity to have some hands-on experience before they get into the workplace."
The new CIM equipment will be utilized in engineering and industrial studies classes and laboratories this fall.
Contact: Charlie Knox, assistant professor of industrial studies, 608-342-1618, knoxc@uwplatt.edu
Prepared by: Charlie Knox, assistant professor of industrial studies, 608-342-1618, knoxc@uwplatt.edu; and Dan Lehnherr, UWP Public Relations, 608-342-1194, lehnherd@uwplatt.edu
<< Home