Michigan Technological University's influence on artificial intelligence education and workforce development took the national spotlight as faculty members traveled to Washington, DC, for the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus.
Alex Sergeyev and Vinh Nguyen represented Michigan Tech at the nonpartisan, education-focused event on September 19, discussing their $999,930 three-year NSF Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies (ExLENT) grant, titled "Beginnings Track: Experiential Learning for the Mechatronics Workforce in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan." The two-hour caucus brought together AI experts from academia, government, and the private sector to inform policymakers about the technological, economic, and social impacts of advances in AI, along with the implications and opportunities the rapidly advancing technology creates.
Sergeyev is a Department of Applied Computing professor and director of Tech's mechatronics engineering graduate program. Nguyen is a Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering assistant professor and director of the Michigan Tech Center for Artificial Intelligence.
"We aim to establish a state-of-the-art remote training hub for industrial robotics at Michigan Tech. The hub will provide students and professionals with hands-on, real-time training opportunities from any location, setting a new standard for how skills in advanced robotics are taught and developed."
Michigan Tech's Beginnings Track project aims to increase interest in careers and continued education in advanced manufacturing among community college and university students, working professionals, and others. It focuses on mechatronics, a branch of engineering central to smart manufacturing and other high-tech industries. Mechatronics integrates mechanical, electrical, electronic, and software engineering skills. Workers with this powerful, interdisciplinary skill set are in high demand by employers.
Read the full story on Michigan Tech News.
Michigan Technological University is an R1 public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan's flagship technological university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
