Engineering Excellence: Program transforms state manufacturing for almost three decades

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | sophia.fahleson@okstate.edu

Nearly 30 years ago, two engineers in the Oklahoma State University Ferguson College of Agriculture forged a plan to provide engineering assistance to manufacturers across rural Oklahoma. Today, their plans have expanded and continue to help hundreds of businesses throughout the state.

In 1997, the OSU Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering united with the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance to create the applications engineering program.

BAE faculty Bill Barfield and Sam Harp founded the applications engineering program for the engineers at OSU to assist Oklahoma manufacturers with their production and economic needs, said Rajesh Krishnamurthy, senior applications engineer and program manager.

“Barfield and Harp wanted to increase the competitiveness of small- and medium-sized manufacturers,” Krishnamurthy said. “The applications engineering program was created to provide manufacturers with on-site, one-on-one engineering assistance and technology transfer services throughout Oklahoma.”

OSU’s applications engineers introduce new technology like collaborative robots to manufacturers across the state. The cobots work side-by-side with humans in assembly lines to complete tasks and increase productivity, Krishnamurthy added.

The partnership between applications engineers and the OMA makes short-term, project-related services available to manufacturers through resources of OSU’s applications engineering program, said Joe Epperley, OMA communications director.

“The Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance exists to help small- and medium-sized manufacturers become more efficient and more successful through technology integration and supply chain management,” Epperley said. “This partnership with the applications engineering program was a big need for the manufacturers who didn’t have access to these types of engineering services.”

Applications engineering has allowed manufacturers a 67-to-1 return on taxpayer investments and has saved Oklahoma manufacturers more than $15 million since its inception. Those numbers are only continuing to grow, Krishnamurthy said.

“This program is 27 years old and still has a lot of impact to this day in how we provide engineering services to the state,” said Mari Chinn, OSU BAE department head.

The program has five key metrics: increase sales, retain sales, increase jobs, retain jobs and save on costs. Krishnamurthy said the OMA is a key player in ensuring these metrics are met within the industry partners.

The OMA employs eight manufacturing extension agents who work with OSU Extension educators across the state to help manufacturers identify technology assistance-related opportunities, Krishnamurthy said.

The applications engineers program also influences the Oklahoma manufacturing industry through BAE’s senior design projects.

The applications engineers work with senior biosystems engineering students at OSU to develop and implement new technologies that assist Oklahoma manufacturers, Chinn said, and these working relationships can help lead to job opportunities for our OSU graduates.

“Our department bridges between the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology and OSU Agriculture, so we are able to connect all the necessary expertise to provide to the state,” Chinn said.

In the past, the applications engineers were limited to only showcasing mobile technologies, but with the new “brick and mortar” lab in Catoosa, Oklahoma, manufacturers can see some technology that is not as portable, said Ben Alexander Sr., applications engineer.

Alexander, alongside application engineers Andrew Huffman, work with OMA staff and BAE faculty and are able to fulfill the applications engineering mission from the state-of-the-art technology lab, he added.

In the lab, Oklahoma manufacturers can experiment with a variety of cutting-edge technologies, including cobots, 3D printers and more.

“The lab is a new demonstration facility to highlight robotics and automation,” Chinn said. “It’s an opportunity for learning, knowledge gaining and technology transfer."

The Catoosa lab, funded by the OMA, is modeled after a full-facility system, showing how cobots can be used to create a product, test its integrity, package it and prepare the packaged products for shipping.

In addition to this circuit, a second area in the lab allows experimentation with heavy-duty 3D printers and high-tech interactive whiteboards.

“The lab is designed to show manufacturers what and how they could use cobots for in their businesses,” Alexander said.

The lab opened in March 2024 and allows manufacturers, politicians, educators, and others to experience technology designed by OSU’s applications engineers.

“We make sure that whatever we do we engage in sustainability,” Krishnamurthy said. “If no one on staff can operate the equipment we provide, it isn’t a sustainable solution.

"Manufacturers need to have some engineers and trained technical staff on their team for successful adoption of technology.”

As the program continues to grow, the applications engineers hope to become more involved with undergraduate student workers, Krishnamurthy said.

“Applications engineers have done many different projects from helping optimize processes to adjusting facility layouts,” Chinn said. “Sometimes they are heavily involved in devising new approaches and technologies that can be adopted by industry to make businesses operate better.

“It is inspiring to witness the impact this program has had on the state and recognize its beginnings as a vision and seed that blossomed from the agricultural engineering program,” Chinn added.

Story by: Laney Reasner | Cowboy Journal