USC Upstate Robotics Program Announces Partnership with SEW Eurodrive
July 28, 2010
SPARTANBURG, SC – July 28, 2010 – The robotics program withinthe Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University ofSouth Carolina Upstate announces a new partnership with SEW Eurodrive, amanufacturer of geared motors, frequency inverters and servo drives.
The university and the Germany-based company with a manufacturingfacility in Lyman, S.C. entered into an agreement in which SEW Eurodrivewill support USC Upstate’s robotics program for five years by funding aresearch lab assistant every semester, lab materials, robotics summercamps and special events. In return, SEW Eurodive will receive studentinterns to support various research projects. The university will alsoprovide feasibility studies at the company’s request.
Above Photo: From left to right: Chris Blickle (U.S. operations manager),Bruce King (vice president, retired), Sebastian van Delden (associateprofessor of computer science), Edie Become (director of HumanResources), and Chuck Chandler (assistant plant manager).
“One of the goals of the robotics program at USC Upstate is todevelop the next generation workforce with integrated knowledge ofcomputer science and industrial robotics in order to meet the demands ofmanufacturing companies with high-tech robotic systems with advancedprogramming interfaces,” says Sebastian van Delden, associate professorof computer science. “The SEW Eurodrive Research Assistantship Programwill be a fantastic partnership opportunity for our students to get thatreal-world hands-on experience within a manufacturing company,ultimately preparing them for an exciting career in computer science,robotics or an IT related field,” he adds.
“We are honored to take part in this important robotics partnershipwith USC Upstate. We believe there will be great benefits as we investin growing tomorrow’s workforce for the community’s advancedtechnological challenges, both present and future,” says Edie Become,director of Human Resources at SEW Eurodrive.
In addition to Become, Bruce King, former vice president now retired,Chris Blickle, U.S. operations manager, and Chuck Chandler, assistantplant manager, met with van Delden, to set the scope of the partnership.
Student research assistants will work on research projects, either inthe area of applying computer vision or natural language programming toindustrial robotics (i.e. communicating with the robotic arm throughcamera or voice recognition stsyems.) In addition to academic researchprojects, SEW Eurodrive will be able to assign a research project to theresearch assistant such as conducting a feasibility study anddeveloping a prototype robotic solution that is needed on the plantfloor. Students’ day to day tasks will include programming algorithms inJava, C++, VB, V+ or VAL3, reading and writing research papers, andconstructing physical parts of the applications.
The summer camp program that will be receiving financial support isin its second year. Hosted on the USC Upstate campus, over 50 youngstudents (ages 12-16) participated in a week-long camp last summer,inspiring them to learn about robotics and computer science.Approximately 100 students are expected to participate in robotics campsthis summer.
The robotics program is one facet of the course of study leading tothe Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. The curriculum isaccredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology(ABET) and provides the foundation necessary for continued study at thegraduate level as well as knowledge and skills that may be used incareers in business and industry.
SEW Eurodrive is a world leader in drive technology and a pioneer indrive-based automation. The company introduced the gearmotor in 1931 andin more than 75 years since then, the company lists a history ofinnovations including the first variable speed gearmotor, earlydevelopment of electronic drives, some of the first successful effortsto decentralize control and the first motor with energy-efficient copperrotors. The Lyman, S.C. facility opened in 1983 and the location hasalso been home to SEW’s U.S. corporate headquarters since 1987. Thecomplex now includes the U.S. DriveAcademy® training center and aworld-class manufacturing plant. The 250,000 square foot manufacturingfacility, which makes SEW’s popular K-Series helical bevel gearreducers, was honored with the Plant Engineering Magazine 2007 Top PlantAward for innovation, employee empowerment and environmentalresponsibility. The plant has more than doubled its manufacturingcapacity over the past seven years to meet growing customer demand.
For more information about the SEW Eurodrive ResearchAssistantship Program, the Computer Science degree, or the Roboticsprogram, contact Sebastian van Delden at 864-503-5292 [email protected]. Bea Walters Smith, director of Developmentand Foundation Scholarships, can be contacted for further information aswell, at 864-503-5235 or [email protected].
