Developing the Future Engineering Workforce for the Automotive Industry
GE Fanuc Automation, a unit of GE Industrial, today announced a cooperative agreement for education and research of discrete manufacturing control systems with Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. Kettering is one of the top institutions in the country educating engineers specifically for work in a variety of engineering and technical fields, including the automotive industry.
As part of the agreement, GE Fanuc will provide Kettering University with a set of manufacturing controls components consisting of GE Fanuc’s Assembly Application Suite (AAS) hardware and software products to simulate manufacturing environments. Kettering will install the components in the University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) labs. In turn, the University will integrate GE Fanuc hardware and software into the course curriculum and develop GE Fanuc-based continuing education offerings. Specifically, GE Fanuc and Kettering will collaborate on case studies and projects to expand GE Fanuc-based course offerings and solutions for discrete manufacturing industries. Kettering will offer initial courses using these resources during the summer 2007 term.
Kettering University is ranked 12th in the country for Best Engineering Programs (non-doctoral institutions) in the 2007 edition of “America’s Best Colleges Guide” by U.S. News & World Report. The publication also ranked Kettering’s ECE department number seven in the nation. In addition, the institution features a “co-op” program where students receive real-world experience while attending school. The University also provides excellent graduate and continuing education programs.
"The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Kettering University prides itself in providing a current, relevant, and practical engineering education to its students while keeping pace with the leading edge of technology,” explained David Foster, lecturer of Computer Engineering at Kettering. “The academic experiences and research opportunities made possible by GE Fanuc's hardware and software will allow us to continue to do just that in the area of discrete manufacturing."
Dr. Juan Pimentel, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Kettering said, "The cooperative agreement between GE Fanuc and Kettering is timely and will enable Kettering students and faculty, using state of the art equipment, to tackle significant problems faced by U.S. manufacturing plant.
“Education is a key to developing the future engineering work force,” said Jack Faett, Director of GE Fanuc’s Discrete Manufacturing Solutions. “These simulators will be instrumental in developing students’ technical skills with manufacturing controls and software solutions.”
Chet Namboodri, Global Director for Discrete Industries & OEM Marketing at GE Fanuc commented, “GE Fanuc is pleased and honored to be integral in the hands-on laboratory education and controls curriculum development for the ECE department at Kettering, one of the preeminent manufacturing engineering universities in the world.”