Industry and academia working together

Bayer Polymers Americas Region commissioned a survey examining a basic and significant question: "How can we expect our students to achieve in science, if their teachers aren''t making the grade?"

There has been a lot of news lately noting the importance of improving U.S. science education. Science and technology industry executives have voiced growing concern over the lack of U.S. science and engineering talent, coupled with the sharp drop in U.S. visas issued to foreign students who''ve filled these jobs for the past decade.

In the Bayer-commissioned survey, university deans call particular attention to partnership opportunities for science and technology companies at the college/university level to help shape the way teachers are trained to teach science so they are more effective once they enter the classroom.

New paradigm

Training workers in skills needed by industry has long been the arena of the technical colleges, which typically offer two-year degrees in specific areas of skill sets to meet the requirements of manufacturers. Many in industry however, have faulted these so-called "vo-tech"(vocational technical) schools for not having a handle on what it is that manufacturing employers need in a skilled employee. Hence, industry is taking a bigger role, often promoting partnerships between their own manufacturing plants and local colleges and universities.

These types of partnerships are grabbing hold in a number of places in the U.S. For example, Mississippi State University (MSU; Jackson, MS) began a program in conjunction with Nissan Corp., which has a huge vehicle manufacturing plant in Canton, MS. Dr. J. Donald Trotter, Assoc. VP for Strategic Initiatives and Interim Director CAVS Research facility in Starkville, MS, says CAVS'' role is not to compete with the community colleges in the area and their vo-tech programs, but to work with them to enhance the environment of the students by bringing in engineering tools, improving the training of the trainers themselves, and implementing a learning environment using online adaptive learning that incorporates engineering tools.

CAVS is not only an academic program, but a competitive tool as well. "We''re confronted with global competition like everyone else," notes Dr. Trotter. "We''re dealt a deck of cards here in Mississippi; we do not have the same resources as they do in Michigan. Companies come here for low-cost labor, but in a global economy, that''s gone. So we''re back-filling with high tech."

The automotive industry is one that the state of Mississippi focuses on heavily. Nissan was weighing expanding its operations in either Mexico or in Canton, Dr. Trotter explains. "Here you have two places competing for expansion, so what do we have to do in Mississippi to compete?" Dr. Trotter asks. "Nissan pointed out that only 5% to 10% of their cost is labor, so even if Mexico was half of Mississippi''s labor cost, how much will they save?"

The CAVS program helps Mississippi provide the automotive industry in the Southeast with better engineering methods, better supply chain logistics, and better human resources support.

Dean Norman, director of the CAVS extension program, says the fundamental concept of developing a southern corridor for the automotive industry is to provide the human resources required. Currently, Norman says there are about 15,000 to 16,000 jobs associated with the automotive industry, and within the next 15 years that could become as many as 50,000 jobs.

The Right Time for The Right Place!

The Right Place Inc., a program between Western Michigan University (WMU; Grand Rapids, MI) and local area manufacturers, is once again providing opportunities for area molders to become more globally competitive with the reestablishment of the program''s Premier Class Injection Molding consortium (PCIM). So far, two top-notch custom-molding companies have signed onto the PCIM II consortium: Anderson Technologies of Grand Haven and Clarion Technologies, headquartered in Grand Rapids.

Companies in the program pay $20,000 a year, and participants come together to brainstorm about problems facing the industry and explore solutions. Participants also conduct research in a lab setting and on the production floors of the participating companies, with the results of the R&D made available to the member companies.

WMU students from the undergraduate through Ph.D. levels participate in the research projects, gaining hands-on experience to complement their academic training. Many of the companies that choose to participate do so for the opportunity to recruit talented, skilled employees. That was Clarion''s incentive. Jeff Norr, Clarion VP of manufacturing, and several other Clarion executives participated in the first PCIM consortium while working for large automotive parts supplier Prince Corp., and recognized the benefits of PCIM. Norr notes that there are three primary advantages to participation.

First, it allows member companies to leverage their resource assets by combining them with other companies in the community. "If you have ''x'' number of resources at your company, you can combine those with other companies'' and have exponentially increased resources at your disposal," says Norr.

Second, the relationship developed with the academic community has benefits including being able to influence the curriculum and recruiting personnel. Often, there can be a gap in what the academic side sees as a good curriculum and what industry actually needs in employees. Norr says being able to provide input into curriculum development creates a greater balance, and then provides an opportunity to hire the right people because of being able to observe students under actual working conditions.

Third, there is the networking opportunity with other companies. "It''s not a primary advantage," says Norr, "but an advantage both in terms of seeing who''s who in the industry in your area, and share thoughts and strategies while maintaining confidentiality."

Technical advantages are evident as well, Norr adds. Participation in PCIM has had an impact on how Clarion designs and categorizes tools, how it controls molding processes, and how that relates to part checking, i.e. controlling the process vs. checking parts to achieve quality standards. It also helps Clarion keep its own technical people sharp by exposing them to a broader view of production R&D projects. It''s a way to provide out-of-the-box thinking.

Some of the projects that have been pursued by PCIM over the years have very specific tangible advantages that are project specific, explains Norr. One of those projects was shot-to-shot repeatability research by WMU.

"It allowed us to quantify process-control methodologies, then use the data to explain to customers why we were doing what we were doing and using that as a competitive advantage," he says.

"The science used in this project at WMU far exceeded what most manufacturing industries would have done in the same scenario. For example, so much in the manufacturing business becomes intuitive, we often skip steps as an efficient use of resources. But often that results in not enough data to help customers see the same conclusions that we see.

"Because the PCIM shot-to-shot repeatability project went through each step and documented the process, it allowed the customer to see what we were doing without burning a lot of our company resources, and us to use this as a competitive advantage."

Glenn Anderson, president of Anderson Technologies, concurs with Norr. "The types of projects we''re working on have a lot of value, so you get a good return on your investment," he says. "Currently, we working on a program that will add a scientific basis to things the industry is doing with intuitive knowledge.

"We''re in the market to serve the customer who wants and needs to buy valid manufacturing solutions and quality products. PCIM allows us to work with other companies like ourselves, toward a common goal and do it dynamically."

Medical devices, too

If the automotive industry is predominant in Michigan and the Southeast, the medical device industry is big in Massachusetts. With more than 250 medical-device companies in the state, the Worcester Poly-technic Institute''s (WPI) Bioengineering Institute (BEI) is an initiative of business and other academic institutions in the state. BEI, formed in 2002, helps bring medical-device products to market with the help of companies such as Nypro Inc. (Clinton, MA), a premier member of BEI.

According to Nypro, the affiliation with BEI will allow it to explore new ideas and technologies in collaboration with WPI''s faculty and students. Nypro will also have access to medical technology expertise at WPI and BEI''s other partnering universities. In turn, small BEI member companies will have access to one of the world''s largest plastics injection molding companies.

Clare Goldsberry [email protected]

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