Planning to make its manufacturing engineering technology program a model for universities throughout the country, Drexel University will use a $155,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to implement internet based manufacturing, train students to use state-of-the-art technology and take leadership roles in United States. Goodwin College of Professional Studies faculty members Drs. Richard Chiou, associate professor of applied engineering technology, Yongjin Kwon, assistant professor of applied engineering technology, and Horacio Sosa, Goodwin's senior associate dean, were instrumental in the project.

The new manufacturing engineering technology curriculum, adapting to an industry that's relying more on technology and less on traditional manufacturing jobs, features internet based remote laboratories at Drexel's Goodwin College. Students interact with professors and view actual systems, such as assembly lines or work stations being designed and improved by engineers. Drexel's new curriculum, being developed as a national model, better prepares students for a corporate world where the need for manufacturing engineers in the service and information technology industries is increasing while the role of more traditional manufacturing jobs diminishes. The NSF project reinforces ongoing initiatives to revitalize the regional manufacturing sector, by providing highly skilled graduates to meet the demands of new advanced technologies while at the same time addressing the anticipated attrition caused by an aging workforce.

According to Richard Chiou, Ph.D., Principal Investigator of the NSF Project, "The objective of the project is to enhance Drexel's new manufacturing engineering technology curriculum through the incorporation of state-of-the-art internet based robotics, automation, and CAD/CAM/CNC. The curriculum offers a unique career pathway to students interested in advanced engineering technology through the full time program at Drexel, or Dual Programs and partnerships with Community Colleges and technical high schools in the Grater Philadelphia Region."

Horacio Sosa, Ph.D., emphasized the hands-on, advanced technologies, technical management, and business connected with the manufacturing engineering technology curriculum, which will better prepare students for jobs as managers and for other leadership roles, such as project team leaders. Goodwin College will emphasize the recruitment of talented high school students, particularly women and minorities.

Martin Tadlock, Dean of the College of Professional Studies at Bemidji State University in Minnesota, was impressed with the direction in which Goodwin is headed and arranged a visit to the school in July of 2004. He said, "We could link that community to manufacturers and establish a virtual community of students and faculty between Drexel, BSU, and other four year institutions on the west coast to share projects, information, and research in applied engineering."

"This is the kind of national model we need for the future of modern manufacturing," he continued. "Industry is anxiously awaiting these types of graduates."