Drexel University, Eastern Controls, Inc., and Endress+Hauser Announce Workforce Development Partnership

EDGEMONT, PA – Eastern Controls, Inc., Endress+Hauser USA, and Drexel University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics in the College of Engineering have developed a three-year partnership to build a talent pipeline of future engineers ready to succeed in careers focused on data-driven manufacturing automation.

“With the commitment of Drexel University and our manufacturing partner Endress+Hauser, we can bring real-world design and process engineering experiences to students who are on the precipice of joining the workforce, better preparing them for the real-world challenges that await them,” said Cliff McLaughlin, President of Eastern Controls.

The partnership will provide co-op opportunities with Eastern Controls and Endress+Hauser, sponsorship of Senior Design projects, and the development of a manufacturing-oriented learning platform. The design and building of this platform will be supported by state-of-the-art instrumentation and controls provided by Eastern Controls and Endress+Hauser. The platform will be designed and built by faculty, co-op students, and senior design teams. Students will have access to the Endress+Hauser Netilion™ cloud-based Industrial IoT ecosystem as an introduction of machine learning in the undergraduate lab experience. 

“Experiential learning is core to the Drexel ethos,” said Jonathan E. Spanier, professor and department head of Drexel Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics. “Partnering with a global leader in sustainable manufacturing automation will help students deepen the connections between thermal and fluid science fundamentals with controls and machine learning and their practical application.”

Modeled after the PTU® (Process Training Unit) at both Endress+Hauser’s Greenwood, IN location and Eastern Controls’ in Edgemont, PA, Drexel’s experiential learning platform will center around three main objectives:

• Provide an interactive, state-of-the-art experience in process control/instrumentation engineering
• Experiential team-based learning involving students, faculty, and industry professionals
• Couple process control automation engineering with the design of thermal, energy, and control systems and their integration into the Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics curriculum

“I have been very impressed with Drexel’s commitment to creating authentic experiences for their students through industry partnerships,” said Nicole Otte, US Director of Workforce Development for Endress+Hauser, “From the onset of our conversations, they have been ‘all-in.’ To date, this is one of the most in-depth agreements with a university partner that Endress+Hauser and our Representative Partners have been engaged with so early in the process.”

Eastern Controls is actively seeking co-op students for upcoming cycles. Visit your college’s job board to learn more about opportunities in your area of interest.