At the recent Automate 2022 show in Detroit, I saw a lot of successful products, services, and strategies. That’s not all. I saw successful people too, company presidents and CEOs, marketing directors, journos, product managers, and many more. Even the timing for the event was impeccable, it comes as the automation market—and particularly robotics—is on the upswing approaching a crest, a crest of the current Fifth Wave in manufacturing.
Of the successful people, I experienced the most heart and enthusiasm from the young people who listened to industry leaders and their own career desires, and chose industrial automation and robotics as a career. This career path was paved by their schooling, and I had the good fortune to meet several recent graduates of this type of curriculum.
They attended Lake Superior State University (LSSU) in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, a small university (about 2,200 students) in the third-oldest settlement in the U.S., founded in 1668. If you like a good juxtaposition (who doesn’t?), the university in this old settlement has produced part of the future of manufacturing.
I had a great time interviewing these recent LSSU graduates about what they’ve done and what they will be doing: Mitch Barron, Austin Helm, Cameron Livingston, and David Mitter. Here is some video footage of our interaction at the LSSU booth at the Automate event:
Their enthusiasm is communicable. Their optimism is obvious. The future for each grad is bright.
The first corporate shout-out goes to Kuka (Shelby Township, MI), for displaying the students’ project at Automate. They programmed the robots, planned the system, wired everything, and tested it. And a lot of other things in between. They also came up with some of the branding that appeared as part of their display. I got a brief tour from Kuka’s Sales & Marketing Operations Manager, Pjeter Lulgjuraj:
And now a second corporate shout-out to FANUC (Rochester Hills, MI), for sponsoring the education pavilion at the show. There were many colleges and universities that showed up, and here is a brief tour. It’s a very fast paced, and very informal, trip to the pavilion. I just wanted you to see the level of activity and the educational institutions there. At the end, check out how crowded the Lake Superior State University booth is:
It turned out to be a great event in Detroit, crowded aisles and truly new products, plus the buzz that happens when an industry is forming and hitting its stride. Most of all, it’s an industry that will provide a challenging and enjoyable future to emerging talents of robotics and automation.