Center Awards over $225K to Minnesota Colleges
MARCH 2009 – With one in ten jobs based in manufacturing, and even more in manufacturing related areas, over 800,000 jobs or 29% of Minnesota’s workforce currently supplies, builds, or designs a manufactured product.
“These job numbers are real people who know the manufacturing business,” says Dr. Ronald Bennett, Executive Director of the Minnesota Center for Engineering & Manufacturing Excellence. “Given educational opportunities to develop advanced skills and knowledge of emerging technology, they will continue to be Minnesota’s greatest asset as we recover from this recession.”
Committed to maximizing Minnesota’s talent, the Center for Engineering & Manufacturing Excellence awarded nearly a quarter-million dollars to four partner colleges to develop educational opportunities for manufacturers.
Alexandria Technical College, Alexandria, MN
Awarded $53,947, Alexandria Technical College Customized Training Division will deliver distance-based training to over 60 technicians employed by Douglas Machine, LLC, Alexandria, MN, and Boise Paper (Boise) in International Falls. The project, titled LongWire, remotely delivers programmable logic control training on live – not simulated – industrial hardware and software. Employees are able to stay on the job site to acquire additional advanced skills.
“The LongWire concept gives industry a strong competitive edge through training that provides flexibility and efficient use of employee time – ultimately a significant cost savings and addition to industry’s bottom line,” says Chad Coauette, Dean of Customized Training for Alexandria Technical College.
Aligning with the Center’s strategic goal to equip manufacturers with an educated workforce, Alexandria Technical College was awarded $50,000 to develop a high school mentor program. The mentor program provides training for high school instructors and provides access to equipment needed to learn advanced computerized machining. The machines will be located at participating high schools, with teachers receiving training during summer camps held on the Alexandria Tech campus.
“The grant provides a career path for students permitting them to move from entry level skills to advanced manufacturing machining and design skills by letting them earn college credits while in high school. Students can complete a college degree in less time and for lower cost,” comments Dr. Jan Doebbert, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Alexandria Technical College.
Anoka Technical College, Anoka, MN
A recent gift of $1Million worth of metal-forming equipment from the Amada Corporation gave Anoka Technical College the base for a metal-forming program. With a grant of $54,000 from the Center, Anoka will develop curriculum and set-up the newly acquired equipment.
“Anoka Technical Collage has significant new capacity and capability to train students in the area of metal-forming because of the Center grant,” says Bob Evans, faculty member. “Metal-forming companies in Minnesota compete successfully on a world-wide basis; however, they tell the Center that the shortage of skilled and creative problem-solvers is their biggest problem. With this new training capability, Anoka Tech will provide companies with the talented workers necessary to stimulate Minnesota’s economy, today and into the future.”
Northeast Higher Education District, Itasca Community College, Grand Rapids. MN
“Many new major industries are ready to start up on the Iron Range including Polymet, Mesabi Nugget, and Essar Steel. These three industries alone will need up to 70 engineers each just to get to full capacity. Coupled with the region’s typical need for about 25
engineers per year, regional needs will be substantially elevated,” explains Ron Ulseth, Itasca Community College engineering faculty and professional engineer.
In response to the region’s growing need, Ulseth and colleagues from Itasca Community College originated Iron Range Engineering Academy which will offer a unique approach to engineering education and provide engineering degree completion programs in Northeast Minnesota. Active participation is the hallmark of the Academy.
“This new pool of engineers, mentored and educated by industry as well as traditional faculty, will serve two major purposes. First, as a resource for new companies looking to move to the area. The companies would likely be ‘value-added’ industries that take as their
input the output of the mineral companies and produce a product to be shipped. Without a supply of engineers and technicians, these companies will not be able to locate here,” Ulseth comments. “The second major purpose will be to become the innovators, the engineers who develop new technologies that will spawn further industry growth in the region.”
South Central College, North Mankato, MN
With a grant of $19,500 from the Center, South Central College will develop an additional facet to their mechatronics program that allows remote access to a robotic cell. Prospective students will learn to program the cell to carry out tasks. Robots are commonly used for repetitive manufacturing tasks.
“Because the curriculum will be delivered remotely, exposure to South Central’s Mechatronics program is simplified and convenient — especially for today’s dislocated worker. This is an accessible program that will help prepare them for new employment opportunities,” says Doug Laven, Director of the Center for Mechatronics at South Central College.
High school and college students will also have the ability to participate in this program. Students will be able to perform a series of tasks to manipulate the robot and view the results in real time from their classroom through an online vision system at South Central
College’s mechatronics classroom. This enables schools to teach robotics to their students without purchasing expensive robotic hardware.
