Gateway Technical College unveiled on Tuesday the $11.5 million addition and renovation of its SC Johnson Integrated Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Center in Sturtevant.
The project included a 35,800-square-foot addition and the remodeling of 12,100 square feet of space at the iMET Center, located at 320 Renaissance Blvd.
The project was funded by a $5 million grant from the state as part of the Foxconn Technology Group incentive package, a $1.5 million capital investment by the college, and another $4 million from corporate partnerships.
The center is aimed at accommodating the job training needs of area companies, both by training college students and upscaling existing employees.
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- A lab in the iMET Center sponsored by Snap-On.
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- Students can program and control robots from a computer lab, sponsored by FANUC.
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- The Rockwell Industrial Controls Lab.
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- An augmented reality sandbox, which projects imaginary elevation lines onto the sand.
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- The augmented reality/virtual reality lab includes zSpace computers that project digital imagery of projects into the classroom.
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- The computer integrated manufacturing lab.
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- A robot in the computer integrated manufacturing lab.
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- A data analytics room, connected to the computer integrated manufacturing lab.
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- A robot in the industrial design fab lab.
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- Equipment in the Rockwell Industrial Controls Lab.
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- The SC Johnson Waxdale Mechatronics Lab.
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- Tarnowski Hall features advanced, hands-on classroom experience for students.
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- A CNC simulator in Tarnowski Hall.
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- A robot in Tarnowski Hall.
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- Gov. Tony Evers addresses the crowd at the iMET expansion opening.
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- Gov. Tony Evers
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- Gateway Technical College president Bryan Albrecht
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- Wisconsin DWD Sec. Caleb Frostman
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- Racine Unified School District superintendent Eric Gallien
Students began using the newly-expanded facility this fall.
“Students benefit by having state-of-the-art training equipment and curriculum along with industry partnerships that support jobs and career aspirations,” said Gateway president Bryan Albrecht. “Employers benefit by having a workforce prepared to lead southeastern Wisconsin into the fourth industrial revolution, known as Industry 4.0.”
Enrollment in Gateway’s manufacturing program is up 6% this year, which indicates growing interest among students in the field, Albrecht said.
“People want to know what skills are required to be successful in a manufacturing environment,” he said. “The types of jobs students are (getting) are starting out at $50,000 and $60,000. We know they’re family-supporting jobs. Of course, there’s a lot of new knowledge that has to be gained so that’s why the expansion was so important for us.”
New additions to the facility include a new industrial design fab lab, precision measurement lab, Rockwell Industrial Controls Lab, SC Johnson Waxdale Mechatronics Lab, Connected Systems Institute Room and an atrium sponsored by Ashley Furniture.
