Introduction To Industrial Automation, A Multidisciplinary Course At Western Kentucky University

The design of contemporary industrial systems and consumer products is increasingly blurring the boundaries between electrical (EE) and mechanical (ME) engineering. Many commercial systems are an appropriate blend of technologies from both disciplines. Traditional approaches to strengthening the educational experiences of engineering students have utilized traditional service courses in each of the disciplines. Although mechanics and thermal/fluid courses for the EE’s and circuits/machinery courses for the ME’s are important and necessary, they are not sufficient to give the students the skills to deal with these new systems. Western Kentucky University has implemented a course, EE 285: Introduction to Industrial Automation, in an attempt to build a bridge between the EE and ME programs. The goal is give the students a common language in this area so that multidisciplinary capstone and professional projects are more easily accomplished. The results of two years of offering the course, including student feedback and course assessment are included. Examples of projects tackled by the students, lessons learned by the faculty, and lists of necessary equipment are provided.