Knowledge-Hungry Students Enjoy Automate 2013

Feb. 21, 2013
Automate 2013 drew a population of science and engineering students interested in gaining the knowledge needed to fill the growing gap of qualified workers.

Automate 2013 in Chicago achieved record attendance of 10,975, following the best-ever year for the North American Robotics market that marked a 17 percent increase over 2011. Employers remain concerned over finding qualified personnel to operate these emerging technologies, but show attendance is a positive indicator as well.

Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students seemed abundant, roaming the show floor interested in cutting-edge technology and searching for knowledge to give them an advantage in tomorrow’s job market. These students took advantage of “expert huddles,” small, intimate encounters with automation experts held right on the show floor. Others participated in organized tours between booths to get the run-down on exactly what did what.

“One of our goals is to work more closely with universities, community colleges and vocational schools to increase educational opportunities in automation to educate the next generation of workers,” says Bob Doyle, director of communications for the Association for Advancing Automation, the show’s host.

At least two academies were on site with their own booth space: Lake Superior State University, Marie, Mich.; and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y. Jeanne Shibley, LSSU administrative assistant to the engineering and technology department, says the university’s goal was to promote its engineering department. Two senior project students joined the faculty’s jaunt to the conference.

“They thought it was amazing,” Shibley said. “The two really enjoyed themselves and received several potential job offers as a result.”

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute offers a robotics and automation laboratory that houses more than 15 industrial robots from Staubli, Fanuc, Adept and Motoman. Part of the department’s curriculum requires students to assemble and program processes using these and a variety of vision systems, integrated work cells and standalone stations.

Companies in this Article

Sponsored Recommendations

Why Go Beyond Traditional HMI/SCADA

Traditional HMI/SCADAs are being reinvented with today's growing dependence on mobile technology. Discover how AVEVA is implementing this software into your everyday devices to...

4 Reasons to move to a subscription model for your HMI/SCADA

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) gives you the technical and financial ability to respond to the changing market and provides efficient control across your entire enterprise—not just...

Is your HMI stuck in the stone age?

What happens when you adopt modern HMI solutions? Learn more about the future of operations control with these six modern HMI must-haves to help you turbocharge operator efficiency...

AVEVA™ System Platform: Smarter, Faster Operations for Enhanced Industrial Performance

AVEVA System Platform (formerly Wonderware) delivers a responsive, modern operations visualization framework designed to enhance performance across all devices with context-aware...