Gannon University has received an in-kind product lifecycle management software grant with an estimated commercial value of $373 million from Siemens. According to Siemens, the grant will make it possible for Gannon engineering students to use the same technology in its classrooms that companies worldwide depend on to design today’s products.
This in-kind software grant – the largest in Gannon’s history – is intended to help prepare a highly-skilled STEM workforce for the advanced manufacturing industry. Gannon is also exploring how it can leverage the software grant to develop a retraining program that could provide both employed and unemployed workers with the skills they need to succeed in the digital factory of the future.
At Gannon University, Siemens' product lifecycle management (PLM) software will be an integral component of the industrial engineering program established in 2015, and other engineering programs. Students will implement course and capstone projects using the software suite. Additionally, the software will enable the students to create digital twins (simulated versions) of their final products.
“Digitalization is here – we see it every day in how we communicate, how we commute and how we do business, and it’s being embraced by manufacturers across the globe,” said Anne Cooney, president of Siemens Process Industries and Drives Division, U.S., and a Gannon University Class of 1991 alumna. “Siemens is committed to developing the workforce of the future and helping to close the skills gap, and I am very proud that we have partnered with Gannon to expand opportunities for new high-tech, digital and advanced-type of manufacturing jobs.”
Students are expected to use Siemens’ PLM software annually for coursework and projects in Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, Robotics, Industrial Design, Work Design, Ergonomics, Material Science and Materials Processing courses and projects. Students will also use the applications for their capstone design projects. As additional faculty adopt and implement the software into their courses, the number of student users is expected to expand.
The in-kind grant of software includes:
- Teamcenter portfolio, the world’s most widely used digital lifecycle management software
- Tecnomatix portfolio, the industry-leading digital manufacturing software
- NX software, a leading integrated solution for computer-aided design, manufacturing and engineering (CAD/CAM/CAE)
- Fibersim portfolio of software for composites engineering
- Simcenter portfolio, a mechatronic simulation software, testing systems and engineering services.
- The Kineo Kit Lab software, which will be used for teaching robot path planning and kinematics.
