Purdue Northwest programs showcase job-ready automation skills

Nathan Bennett’s interest in design and engineering began long before he entered a robotics lab. As a child, he spent hours snapping together Legos and picking up the mechanics of carburetors and tools by shadowing his father in the shop.

“That inspired me to want to be in the design space but also get more hands on,” said Bennett (second from left in image), a senior in the Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) program at Purdue Northwest University, in Northwestern Indiana.

“You can have all the book learning you want,” he added, “but in the field, what counts is knowing how things work and being able to troubleshoot and fix things.”

That mindset guided his decision to pursue a Mechanical Engineering Technology Degree rather than a purely academic path.

For students like Bennett who don’t thrive on theory alone, the MET program provides the best of both worlds. The four-year degree blends design ingenuity with practical problem-solving, said Rick Rickerson, laboratory administrator, College of Technology, Purdue Northwest.

The MET program is part of Purdue Northwest’s College of Technology. The university has two engineering-focused paths: The College of Engineering emphasizes theory, math and research, and the College of Technology focuses on applied sciences, including mechatronics, mechanical engineering technology  and electrical engineering technology (EET).

The ripple effect of industry-academia collaborations

That distinction matters. Students benefit from hands-on projects and engage directly with the industry to solve real problems, said Rickerson. Many senior projects involve collaborations with companies, giving students practical experience before graduation.

Moreover, the partnerships pay reciprocal benefits. Michael Cook, director of Industry-Academia Engagement, Rockwell Automation, noted that building bridges between industry and academia is a long-term strategy for building a skilled workforce.

“We want to make sure that young people—and those upskilling through programs like this—feel comfortable and are prepared culturally to perform at the highest level in our industry,” Cook explained. “That way, they’re attracted to it, they stay in it and they stick with it...Purdue Northwest is really an extension of our company, and we owe them as an industry.”

The college’s partnership with Rockwell Automation began around 2013, through a Department of Labor grant to train 300 skilled workers in advanced manufacturing, said Mohammad A. Zahraee, Ph.D., PE, professor and interim dean at the College of Technology.

“Our partnership initially started with our faculty and Rockwell engineers sitting together to design programmable logic controller (PLC) trainers,” recalled Zahraee. “That led to those trainers being offered to other institutions through Rockwell Automation, as they were deemed to be suitable for both educational institutions for their engineering and technology programs as well as for their workforce development.”

These tools, now used widely, ensure students are job-ready and familiar with the same equipment they will encounter in the field.

Zahraee also noted that the collaboration has since expanded into research, including cybersecurity for industrial systems. Rockwell Automation provides proprietary code for faculty-led projects.

The expanded partnership created a ripple effect when Rockwell Automation sees its products used by students, said Zahraee. Students gain marketable skills, regional companies stay globally competitive and Rockwell Automation fortifies its presence among future decision-makers, he said.

Inside the Manufacturing & Robotics Laboratory

Automation takes center stage at Purdue Northwest’s Manufacturing & Robotics Laboratory. Designed for immersive learning, the lab is divided into three specialized areas: PLCs, process control and electrical training, and machining and machine elements.

One of the highlights is a robotics project featuring a FANUC 200 ID robot arm. Bennett, and his teammates—Caleb Johnson (second from right in image), Roman Ford (leftmost) and Luke Moreno (rightmost)—have programmed it for pick-and-place operations.

Ford noted that they learned to write the interface code (between human and robot), directing the robot “where it needs to move and what it needs to do when it’s at [a given] position.”

In this course, students learn to streamline repetitive tasks by using position registers and offsets. This reduces the need for hundreds of lines of code, added Bennett, whose primary focus is Mechanical Engineering Technology with a minor in Industrial Robotics.

In an adjacent lab, there are multiple robotic arms that allow students to practice with teach pendants, input code and receive real-time feedback in a safe, controlled environment. They learn fundamentals, such as moving from point A to point B, setting payloads and handling objects.

For now, the system is not equipped with vision sensors or AI. “This robotic arm relies entirely on precise programming,” Bennett said. “Every movement is dictated by exact coordinates that we enter.” If the worktable shifts even slightly, he said, the arm can’t self-correct. The hands-on course emphasizes the criticality of accuracy in automation.

Once students have mastered precision engineering and the fundamentals of robotic control, they can move on to the next class—Vision Systems, said Bennett.

Student innovation drives prototyping and patents

Johnson, who shares the same major as his teammates, is also an employee at the facility. He brings an added dimension to the team because he works directly with entrepreneurs and startups, turning rough “napkin sketches” into real-world products.

His workflow begins with computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D modeling, followed by simulations and prototyping. Once the design meets client expectations, the project moves toward provisional patents and, ultimately, commercialization.

“In general, patents follow the student and the university, especially when the student leads the project,” explained Cook. “However, for a specific sponsored project, where, as Rockwell Automation, we’re looking for an outcome, then we pre-negotiate a shared intellectual property.”

The goal is to ensure the invention benefits both the company and the university, said Cook.

Johnson added that the funds are reinvested into student opportunities and research.

For Bennett and his robotics project teammates, the value of their curriculum and the benefits they reap from industry sponsorships is palpable. The curriculum balances applied learning and industry partnerships, and each member of the team confirmed that their experience opens doors to careers where precision and creative problem-solving converge.  

Technical mastery plus industry engagement

By bridging innovation, intellectual property and real-world commercialization, the curriculum at Purdue Northwest is proof positive that the program extends beyond classroom learning.

For Bennett, Johnson, Ford and Morena, that value is palpable. The curriculum balances applied learning and industry partnerships, and each member of the team confirms that their experience opens doors to careers where precision and creative problem-solving converge.