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In the summer of 2023, an instrumentation teaching lab on the third floor of Rogers Hall was transformed into the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering’s new Industrial Automation Laboratory.

The redesigned facility features new workstations, 3D printers, a laser cutter, and dedicated space for project builds, along with modern robots, new cameras, projectors, and screens for instructional use including distance education.

Possible Through Alumni Support

“This is a great example of how alumni support enhances the learning experience for our students,” said MIME school head Andy Dong. “We took a space that was outdated and turned it into a modern and ergonomic workspace where students have access to some of the newest technology to build mechatronic devices.”

Support for the project came from Ali Piyarali, B.S. industrial engineering ’84, a proud Beaver alum who came to ����Ӱ�� State from Pakistan in 1980 as an 18-year-old international student. After graduating, he went on to a successful career at Accenture, retiring as a partner of the Fortune 500 company after 31 years.

In 2020, Piyarali and his wife, Shahina Piyarali, made a generous gift to establish the Shirin Bano Piyarali Fund for Excellence in Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering, named for his mother.

“To get the education that I received and the support that I got through ����Ӱ�� State was important to me,” Piyarali said. “So, this is my way of giving back.”

How the Lab is Being Used

This spring, the Industrial Automation Lab provided workspace for student projects in an elective applied robotics class. Students are challenged to coax their robots to perform certain tasks. Those robots include Misty, a mobile social robot with LED eyes, and the Mini Pupper, a scaled-down quadruped robot similar in appearance to Spot, the robotic dog made famous by .

Jude Williams, a senior in computer science, is working with one of the Mini Puppers, training it to fire an infrared laser at moving targets identified with ARTags.

“It’s been a wonderful class,” Williams said. “It’s the first time that I’ve really gotten to mess around with robots.”

Sarah Hirsch, a senior in mechanical engineering, is working with one of the Misty robots, teaching it to use its time-of-flight sensors to navigate a maze.

“Having this dedicated space, where all the robots are, makes it a lot easier,” Hirsch said. “I can come in during office hours and work on my own time, outside of class.”