OXFORD, Ohio — In his 20 years at Oxford's Miami University, Fazeel Khan, a professor of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering at Miami University of Ohio, has witnessed the evolution of robotics.

“What's transforming industry is the push towards smart factories and smart manufacturing,” said Khan.  

What You Need To Know

  • Miami University has received a $308,750 RAPIDS grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education to advance manufacturing and robotics in the region 

  • Salary.com says the average salary for a robotics engineer in the US is over $100,000 
  • The university continues to market its program and has reached out to Intel hoping to recruit students for the job force  

These days there's more information being taken from the machines and he's trying to simulate that industry experience for students in a lab. 

“It's good to be able to have these technologies and equipment here so students have that exposure before they go to their internship and their full-time careers. In addition to just coursework, we've also developed an internship training workshops where we've collaborated with companies,” said Khan.

Miami University recently received a $308,750 RAPIDS grant from Ohio's Department of Higher Education to help students learn state-of-the-art robotics, as well as purchase the latest equipment. 

The university offers the only Bachelor's Degree in robotics engineering in our state, one of a handful in the country. 

Cincinnati native John Dahlquist knows all about it, and as a senior who will graduate in May, he plans to either seek a Master's Degree or enter the workforce, where he'll have a multitude of job opportunities. 

“Potential to do something in just pure electrical engineering, from the amount of classes I've taken. There seems to be opportunities from the management side of engineering. How willing and ready that everyone in the department is to help out makes it a lot easier and a lot less scary. So if people want to do something, there's plenty of opportunities and support,” said Dahlquist. 

“Intel and other manufacturers that are coming into the region, had direct contact with them to try to have them come recruit our students,” said Khan. 

Kahn said this is an exciting era for smart manufacturing and robotics in Ohio. And continuing to market Miami University's programs is key. 

“We'd like to dispel some of the more traditional impressions of mechanical manufacturing, for instance, that it involves design, ergonomics, human-machine interface. There's such a broad range of topics within mechanical and manufacturing that through awareness I think we increase our audience across women and also be able to improve diversity within our program,” said Khan.