Technology Drives Deals, Student Opportunities with Manufacturers

A wealth of advanced manufacturing equipment, labs and talented faculty and students have positioned SUNY Oswego to “go public,” offering businesses around the region a place to develop and refine products and designs.

Edward McCormack ’15, a technology management student at SUNY Oswego, works at the brain center of a Haas Mini Mill, a computer numeric control device that represents all that the college’s new advanced manufacturing labs can offer to area businesses for product design, development and fabrication.

The effort will provide the college’s technology students hands-on, commercial experience and provide advanced services to companies in such areas as computer-assisted design, 3D printing and prototyping, materials processing and computer numeric control milling.

The college’s recent Advanced Manufacturing Jam in Park Hall marked the launch of the collaborative venture, with 28 participants in attendance, including such companies as National Grid, Novelis and the Fulton Companies.

“President [Deborah F.] Stanley is interested in leveraging the assets we have on our campus—both human and capital—to support innovation and economic growth in our region,” said Pam Caraccioli, deputy to the president for external partnerships and economic development.

Mark Hardy ’91, technology department chair, expressed excitement at the possibilities for assisting companies and for helping technology management students secure experience in commercial project teams, additional internships and cooperative education placements.

“This work could take the form of assisting a company in product development or helping a marketing department communicate a concept to a client,” Hardy said. “Or it could mean full fabrication here in our labs, in woods, polymers and metals. We’ve got the capability to machine parts and produce products from raw materials.”

Two years ago, the college opened a 13,700-foot addition to Wilber Hall that includes two state-of-the-art manufacturing labs built at a cost of $3 million.

The college has outfitted the labs with $1.6 million in high-tech equipment, including Stratasys’ Fortus 250mc 3D production printer, an AXYZ 4008 ATC precision router, and a Haas Mini Mill, a laser cutter-engraver.

All the gear uses modern computer-assisted design, computer-assisted manufacturing and/or computer numeric control, which synthesizes design and fabrication via sets of instructions for precision machines. Hardy said the technology department has courses that teach Mastercam software skills, computer-assisted design and materials processing.

Technology management major Edward McCormack ’15 said his experience interning with D-K Manufacturing in nearby Fulton, N.Y., has helped verify for him that the technology department is keeping pace with industry demands.

“If D-K needed me to do homework or product development here, I could do it,” McCormack said. “I already know how to use the advanced manufacturing equipment.”

Hardy said the technology faculty has begun the process of redeveloping Oswego’s bachelor’s degree program in technology management to a multidisciplinary degree program in advanced manufacturing management.

“We are training people who can step into management roles with a strong technological background and the people skills to develop an innovation culture among employees,” Hardy said.

—Public Affairs

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