The nature of manufacturing is changing, and at the heart of this transformation is the use of real-time data, automation, robotics and machine learning — to name just a few technologies that contribute to the ecosystem of smart manufacturing. Preparation of undergraduate students with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in this industrial framework requires an updated curriculum and state-of-the-art facilities.

To meet the growing national demand for Bachelor’s level smart manufacturing professionals, the department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (MME) at Miami University's College of Engineering and Computing has re-envisioned the Manufacturing Engineering major to become the Smart Manufacturing major. This initiative began in the summer of 2022, and included the creation of a dedicated Smart Manufacturing lab with industrial partners.

What is smart manufacturing?

Smart manufacturing uses data generation and evaluation at various scales to help make informed decisions from control of specific equipment to the operation of an entire factory. Smart or intelligent manufacturing technology applications are transformative in increasing productivity, improving quality, and reducing costs for manufacturers.

New Smart Manufacturing lab in Oxford, Ohio

The concept of a new lab envisioned as the Smart Manufacturing Learning Factory originated from discussions between MME faculty and Scott Summerville, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Inc. (MEAU). In a collaborative effort, faculty of the MME Department, MEAU, and systems integration firm SCADAware designed the first phase of the Smart Manufacturing lab to be housed in Miami University's Benton Hall (BEN16). This lab will be a key component of the Smart Manufacturing program by providing students with hands-on experience with the latest technologies used in smart manufacturing. The project is led by MME faculty Fazeel Khan, Ph.D., Giancarlo Corti, Ph.D., and Karl Reiff, M.Ed. in consultation with Mitsubishi. It is expected to be functional in the fall of 2024.

Updates to curriculum

In parallel with plans for the lab, the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering has modernized its manufacturing curriculum, adding and modifying multiple courses pertaining to smart manufacturing, including: Polymer Processing, Advanced Manufacturing and Design, Manufacturing Automation, Digital Manufacturing, Smart Factory, and Process Engineering. There has also been an inclusion of coursework in the area of data analytics applied to manufacturing operations taught by Miami University's Department of Statistics. The department and university have approved these courses, and they are now part of the Miami University Bulletin. By application, the ABET accreditation of the previous manufacturing engineering major has been extended to the new Smart Manufacturing degree.

The new program also received approval from the Ohio Department of Higher Education in September 2023, making it the only university in Ohio offering a Bachelor of Science in Smart Manufacturing Engineering.