WVU received a grant funded project from the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII) and was tasked with developing a scalable and modular curriculum for smart manufacturing. WVU’s goal: design one overarching curriculum with various modules that is widely adaptable for K-12, secondary and post-secondary learners.
The Approach
The project was led by Anna Billey, a WVU graduate research assistant who developed most of the material while working on her master’s thesis. Anna received support and guidance from Dr. Thorsten Wuest, an Associate Professor of Smart Manufacturing at WVU. Together, they utilized Festo’s CP Lab with eight hands-on learning stations as the “test bed” for the Smart Manufacturing curriculum.
The Customer
West Virginia University (WVU) developed and implemented new Smart Manufacturing curriculum deliverables for its bachelors, masters and PhD degree programs with research and hands-on training supported by Festo’s Cyber-Physical Lab.
The Result
The CESMII project resulted in a new course offering at WVU entitled “Smart Manufacturing” which has received very encouraging feedback from students. The Smart Manufacturing curriculum is now available to outside professors and institutions and is adaptable for K-12 classrooms as well.
“I was able to apply the knowledge I had gained [as an undergrad] from the Festo trainers to the Festo CP Lab at WVU [as a graduate student]. I was prepared, I knew what was happening, but I also utilized that previous knowledge in my thesis and project work with Dr. Wuest and Festo to create the Smart Manufacturing curriculum. I also ended up adding to my perspective, where I learned a lot about networking and machine communication that I didn’t get initially. So, starting off with the basics, then moving to something more complicated like the CP Lab has definitely been one of the aspects that made me feel prepared in my line of work.”
The Value
“We take pride in providing our students with a lot of value and state-of-the-art education supported by the Festo training system. Anna is a testament to that. She received a job offer from a top company two semesters before she graduated.”