In October 2004, Professor Jay Lee joined the University of Cincinnati (UC) as the Ohio Eminent Scholar in Advanced Manufacturing. But, he did not come alone, he brought several of his closest friends, namely, the NSF Industry/University Cooperation Research Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems (IMS).

The center is growing, he says. Since it has been at UC, we have renewed all the old members plus added new ones. Starting in 2005, Lee began using Advantech systems for many applications very successfully.

We realized that the smart informatics tool we developed for our company members could also be used effectively as a teaching tool Lee explains. So, in January 2006, Lee and Advantech began laying the groundwork for the Advantech eManufacturing Lab.

It was aimed at teaching students, using the results from our research, Lee explains, A universitys primary goal has to be teaching. From that comes research, which then permits publications. The results of the research and publication are then fed back into the teaching. Above all, Lee emphasizes, students are in the center of the loop.

Now, thanks to the Advantech eManufacturing Lab, his students have gained an additional edge. The students are working on real-world projects, not just a theoretical, analytical tool, says Lee.They are therefore better able to understand the processes used in the industry.

I call it a collaboratory concept, says Lee. He further explains that his collaboratory concept is an ideal partnership environment between the problem-rich environment of the industry and theintellectual-rich environment of a university. This collaboration enriches teaching and nurturing functions of a university and aims to enhance the speed of discovery and learning.

Ming-Chin Wu, President of Advantechs Industrial Automation group says, We are very proud of this alliance with the University of Cincinnati. It is aligned with Advantechs corporate values of creating an open stage where employees are able to demonstrate their talents and abilities. Advantech eManufacturing Lab is equipped with Open eAutomation product solutions providing a mutually beneficial platform for learning, collaboration, and partnership

Advantech has provided the University of Cincinnati with Embedded Automation Controllers (UNO-2171) with Flat Panel Monitors (FPM-2150) and USB I/O modules (USB-4711) to monitor machines for changes and provide a predictive failure analysis. Also, there is a lab station equipped with AStudio and a Touch Panel Computer (TPC-1570) so results can be posted on the web and viewed.

The Advantech eManufacturing lab has been in full operation since August 2007. Click here to learn more about the Advantech eManufacturing Lab.