"Advanced Technology: Bringing Today’s Standards to the Industrial Laboratory"

In order to save lives, doctors stay current with the latest medical developments and technology.In order to build the best houses, contractors keep abreast of the most current standards, methods, and equipment.And so it must be in engineering education.Faculty must be knowledgeable of the latest processes and equipment used in the engineering world.ABET recognizes this as seen in its program outcomes (Criterion 2: a-k). 1 To the best of our ability, we must teach current methodologies in our classroom along with basic concepts.This will not only better prepare our students for future employment, but will also heighten their interest and desire to learn.The Mechanical Engineering Technology Department at Oklahoma State University is taking steps to meet this goal.In order to provide students with an education in the latest technologies available in their field, two laboratories are being created which closely simulate modern manufacturing environments.The labs meet current safety, technology, and quality standards, and will be used for multiple purposes such as classes, research, student-involved industrial projects, and educational tasks.This paper will discuss the steps taken to achieve our goals: aspiration, creation, utilization, and evaluation. AspirationWe desired to have a lab experience comparable to what work students would do in future jobs.We wanted students to develop pride in their skills and equipment, and expect quality results.To achieve these ends, we considered several factors.What are the current quality standards?What are the current safety standards?What capacity do we need to educate students appropriately?In terms of quality, we needed to address every aspect of the lab: equipment, layout, procedures, maintenance, organization, and so forth.First, all equipment needs to work properly.Industries require this of their manufacturing machines, and gave this feedback to faculty as a necessary part of making a quality lab.Specifically, the equipment needs to reliably perform the same function to the same standard every time it is used.This requires that the equipment be in good working order, have appropriate tooling and other necessary supplies, and undergo routine preventative maintenance.There have to be standards and procedures that address these issues, or things go undone, leading to broken or poor quality machinery.Furthermore, there need to be written procedures and detailed instruction for using the equipment.Lack of knowledge in operating equipment can cause damage to the equipment, and perhaps even the operator.No person--student, faculty, or staff--should be allowed to operate