Dr. Tom Wanyama, Director of the Learning Factory at McMaster University, has a mission: prepare the engineering students at McMaster University to be productive employees on day one. Dr. Tom knows that the skills required of today’s employees are not the same skills their predecessors learned in school. And so, the way McMaster University educates students today has evolved – both in the curriculum taught and the style of teaching.
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In general, today’s most successful employees possess cross-disciplinary skills. For this reason, the future engineers at the McMaster University learn not only analytical and design skills, but also core business and management skills.
“We’re trying to develop the whole engineer, the whole package.”
- Brian Baetz, Director of W Booth School of Engineering Practice & Technology
Additionally, the way the students learn is also evolving. Active, hands-on learning is giving students the opportunity to apply what they learn immediately – using the same equipment they will use at their future employer.
“The program’s focus on hands on learning prepared me for the real world. This is where I learned how to program a PLC, learned about communication networks specific to automation like Ethernet IP. Going out into the workforce, I had a step up because I already knew how to do the day-to-day work.”
- Craig Germann, Graduate of the Booth School of Engineering and Rockwell Automation employee
McMaster University is bringing hands-on learning to life in The Learning Factory, a simulated factory environment built on Rockwell Automation software and hardware – including the recently acquired Plex Systems Manufacturing Execution Software. Rockwell Automation is proud to support the University’s efforts to build tomorrow’s workforce.
Published October 13, 2022
