Purdue opens manufacturing engineering to current, future students

The program, part of the College of Technology, will hold an open house for high school students from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday (April 8) and for current Purdue students from 5-7 p.m. Monday (April 10). Both open houses will be in the Manufacturing Center, Knoy Hall, Room 258.

The open houses are free of charge and designed to give students an understanding of the wide range of career possibilities that come with an education in manufacturing engineering, automation and computer-aided design.

Henry W. Kraebber, a professor of manufacturing engineering technology, said many students and their parents have outdated ideas of types of careers that are available in manufacturing.

"These days, manufacturing isn't like the old black-and-white films with Henry Ford's assembly lines," Kraebber said. "These are not the jobs that are going oversees. These are high-tech jobs filled by highly skilled, highly educated people that will drive the economy of the future."

High school students wishing to attend the open house should register by contacting Suzanne Kelley at (765) 494-9099 or by visiting the web site.

Participating high school students will not only be able to talk with faculty members and current manufacturing engineering technology, but also have the opportunity to participate in a series of hands-on activities related to manufacturing engineering technology. Those activities include robotics, computer-aided modeling and computer-controls design.

College students who attend Monday's open house will be able to talk to faculty and current students, who can help determine if the field is right for them. Academic advisers also will be available to discuss the process of changing colleges or majors.

"Job placement for manufacturing engineering technology graduates nears 100 percent, and they earn some of the largest starting salaries in the college of technology," Kraebber said. "Students with interest in hands-on problem solving, robotics, automation and a variety of computer design applications should consider a consider a future in the field."

The manufacturing engineering technology program is part of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology. It was previously known as the Computer-Integrated Manufacturing Technology (CIMT) program, but Kraebber said the name was recently changed to more fully cover the wide range of manufacturing activities.

Writer: Matt Holsapple, (765) 494-2073, mholsapple@purdue.edu

Source: Henry W. Kraebber, (765) 494-5039, kraeb@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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