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Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has been awarded a $50,000 grant by
The Alcoa Foundation to support the college’s expanding robotics
initiative. The grant will enable Rose-Hulman to add project
workstations that replicate industrial robotics.
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Expanding Academic Area: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s robotics
initiative has seen increased interest among students and faculty
scholars. |
“Alcoa Foundation and Rose-Hulman share a common goal of upgrading the
skills of tomorrow’s workforce and leaders. The new robotics
workstations will present students with similar situations encountered
in manufacturing operations, allowing further production improvements
and better robotics,” said Joseph Haniford, vice president of global
manufacturing for Alcoa Power and Propulsion. “It is essential that
students have modern tools to explore the challenges we confront in the
work environment.”
Rose-Hulman specializes in hands-on education that stresses development
of skills in a personal environment allowing students and graduates to
make positive contributions to today’s innovative technology-based
workplace. Student teams will use the workstations to obtain practical
experience on how industrial robotics is used, how robotic systems are
selected and how applications are developed that use modern robotics
systems.
Applied robotics is a concentration area in Rose-Hulman’s
multidisciplinary robotics academic minor and technical certificate
programs, which have experienced substantial growth since being added
three years ago. More students are expressing an interest in robotics
each school year, and the number of students completing robotics
capstone design projects has doubled every year. The workstations will
increase the number of students able to participate in robotics
projects, according to David Fisher, assistant professor of mechanical
engineering.
“Robotics will open new career fields for Rose-Hulman students and
further enhance their educational experience,” states Fisher, who has
joined faculty colleagues in seeking industrial support for Rose-Hulman’s
robotics program. “The workstations being provided by The Alcoa
Foundation funding will offer a great learning opportunity for Rose-Hulman
students.”
The Alcoa Foundation grant has been added to a $20,000 grant from
Beckman Coulter to provide applied robotics equipment to the college’s
laboratories.
Robotics is a multidisciplinary field, blending mechanics, electronics,
controls, and software, and requiring engineers to have deep enough
knowledge where they can contribute within their specialty, but broad
enough knowledge to understand other engineers. Rose-Hulman offers a
robotics certificate to students completing seven courses, including a
senior design project in robotics. Students can concentrate their
robotics experience in controls, hardware development, mechanics,
computer engineering, programming, sensors and electronics.
“Our students must be able to work in multidisciplinary teams,” added
Carlotta Berry, assistant professor of electrical and computer
engineering, and another faculty member of Rose-Hulman’s robotics
initiative. “The robotics industry has been compared to the personal
computer industry in the 1970s. It is a career field with great
potential.”
Students are coming to college with more experience and interest than
ever before, Berry acknowledged, thanks to FIRST Robotics, BotBall,
First Lego League and other competitions.
“Students are ready to learn more about programming, electronics,
controls, artificial intelligence, robot vision and kinematics,” she
stated.
Other robotics program faculty members are Matt Boutell, assistant
professor of computer science and software engineering, and Steve
Chenoweth, associate professor of computer science and software
engineering.
Learn more about Rose-Hulman’s robotics program at
www.rose-hulman.edu/class/csse/robotics/RoboticsBrochure.pdf.
The Alcoa Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the
U.S., with assets of approximately US $420 million. In addition to
addressing local needs in communities where Alcoa operates, Alcoa
Foundation is focused on promoting environmental stewardship, enabling
economic and social sustainability, and preparing tomorrow’s leaders
through education and learning. Alcoa Foundation was founded more than
50 years ago and has invested more than US $515 million since 1952.
Alcoa employees share their energy, passion and purpose to make a
difference in our communities through the Alcoa Volunteers Program,
which last year recorded 650,000 hours of service to 9,000 charitable
organizations. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com/foundation
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