Oregon Institute of Technology received a $200,000 research grant from the Army Research Labs administered by the Organization for Economic Initiatives, Inc. This research project will fund additional work on the Smart Automation Systems Laboratory and development of a distance delivery version of OIT's Master of Science in Manufacturing Engineering Technology degree within the period of two years.

The Smart Automation Systems Lab is located at OIT's Klamath Falls campus, though some of the equipment is portable and allows OIT to share with other campuses, other academic partners and with industry. Grant funds will be used for refurbishing the lab, furniture, software and industrial robots built for education and simulation. The lab will be put to use for undergraduate and graduate student projects, and independent research. OIT faculty estimate that about 50 students per year will initially be utilizing the lab.

Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering and Technology Professor John Anderson served as the primary investigator. The co-primary investigators of the grant include Professor Jim Long, Computer Engineering Technology; Assistant Professor Wangping Sun, MMET; and Professor Brian Moravec, MMET.

"I'd like to thank the industry consortium Manufacturing 21 for their help in securing funding for this work and for their continuing support for OIT and the manufacturing sector in Oregon," Anderson said.

Klamath Falls