Marquette unveils new advanced automation lab

Marquette University and Omron Automation Americas unveiled this week the Omron Advanced Automation Lab at Engineering Hall on the MU campus.

The Omron Advanced Automation Lab was announced in June 2022 with Omron Automation Americas gifting the university more than $1 million to establish the lab, support the mechanical engineering graduate program and endow a scholarship.

“The students who come through this lab will be learning on the most advanced automation and robotics equipment in the industry,” said Robb Black, president, chief executive officer and chief operating officer of Omron Automation Americas, who graduated from Marquette’s Opus College of Engineering in 1987. “I’m very happy to say that today we have one Marquette grad in our Sakura Training Program (at Omron), three additional students starting the program in June, and two students in the Omron and Marquette Co-Op Program.”

The Omron Advanced Automation Lab is designed to teach students the foundational building blocks of industrial automation, with a manufacturing area where subsystems can be combined to produce a product and a library of components that will challenge students to identify what is necessary to complete their tasks. Students will learn how areas such as the supply chain play a critical role in both engineering and business.

“When I think about this lab and what it means, it’s the future of higher education,” said Michael Lovell, president of Marquette. “We are creating a pipeline of students to Omron, which will not only give our students second-to-none opportunities but will also allow Omron to continue to innovate.”