Preparing Manufacturing's Future: How Kettering University's Co-op Model Provides Real-World Experience

With artificial intelligence (AI), mass customization and shrinking lot sizes changing expectations in manufacturing, companies need new skills and abilities from those who they hire. So, where do you find an entry level engineer with years of experience and training in how to deal with the constantly changing needs of production? In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Kettering University President Robert McMahan says getting students experience while in school is key. The former General Motors Institute (a private university, separate from the automaker since the early 1980s) has long used factory floors and design centers as training grounds for student education. Current GM CEO Mary Barra is among the school's alumni who got their first taste of manufacturing while studying engineering there.  In this episode, McMahan talks to IndustryWeek's Anna Smith about the school's educational co-op model and how schools need to collaborate with manufacturers to prepare the next generation of industrial leaders.