Professors of the Production Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering courses won R$ 2 million through a project approved in a public call from Finep (Studies and Projects Financier, a public company linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations) to promote open laboratories for prototyping and shared spaces.
The project, designed in partnership with the Center for Industries of the State of São Paulo (CIESP Limeira) and the Municipal Department of Development, Tourism and Innovation, was ranked among the four best in the state of São Paulo. The resource will be used to modernize the Faculty's Digital Manufacturing Laboratory, which will be open for use by innovative micro and small companies. A 5-axis machining center will be purchased. This is state-of-the-art equipment, rare in the industry of Limeira and the region, and which allows the production of complex parts for the metal-mechanical industry, responsible for transforming metals into various products, including machines, equipment, vehicles and construction materials. transport.
The group's objective is to continue training highly qualified professional staff, encourage research in the area and strengthen the innovation ecosystem in the region, especially through even greater ties between academia and the industrial sector of the city and region. “We want to further foster our relationships with local industry and collaborate to solidify an environment favorable to innovation and entrepreneurship, both in the academic and industrial environments. With the new machinery, we will provide the physical means for the development of cutting-edge projects”, say the teachers.
There has already been a communication channel established by the Faculty with the local industry since 2017, when course coordinators approached CIESP Limeira so that real company problems could be analyzed by students in their course completion works (TCCs). Teachers report that, to date, more than 50 different projects have been developed, in at least 25 companies located in the Limeira region, with the participation of 483 students. “Companies present themes for challenges to students, who must define the problem to be solved (diagnosis), present a solution, demonstrate its feasibility and an implementation plan. These projects promote initiatives to improve all companies participating in the TCCs, with positive results for both parties. What we are going to do now is to further nurture these partnerships.”
The project executing team is made up of seven professors, all with professional experience in the industry, in companies such as Embraer, General Motors, Mahle-Behr, Eaton, CPFL, Caterpillar, Romi, etc. They are professors Daniel Iwao Suyama (coordinator, with extensive experience in research and applications in the area of machining materials), Alessandro Lucas da Silva, Eduardo Paiva Okabe, Jaime Hideo Izuka, José Luiz Pereira Brittes, Paulo Sérgio de Arruda Ignácio and Rodrigo Fernando Galzerano Baldo.
Article originally published on the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FCA) website.
