Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com January 11, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 3 CT's ivied walls provide tech support to manufacturers By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com W hen Innovative Machinery Group learned last spring that a customer needed a device to smooth artificial elbow joints, the East Granby maker of high- performance machine tools began searching for a solution. IMG lacked a machine like that in its inventory, but knew that it — with some tech- nical help — could devise one, said engineer- ing manager Matt Lamoureux. But where to start? A phone call to the Michigan office of one of the world's foremost robot makers led Lamoureux back to Connecticut, to Central Connecticut State University's Institute of Technology & Business Development (ITBD). Through ITBD's "faculty-in-residence'' program, IMG linked up with an engineering professor versed in the technology IMG need- ed, plus the assistance from a trio of CCSU student-interns, to design and test a robotic device for smoothing those joints. With test- ing wrapping up, the first devices could be shipped to the customer soon, says Lamou- reux, who credits ITBD with cementing the delivery pact. "It was very important,'' he said. "That was a technology we weren't familiar with. It put us at least six months ahead of where we would have been without the help.'' ITBD's faculty-in-residence program is part of a growing number of academic- and industry-sponsored initiatives meant to enable manufacturers to extract the maxi- mum value from their technologies, financial and human resources, officials say. Goodwin College, for example, recently opened a new 27,000-square-foot business and manufactur- ing center that's offering new degrees in CNC engineering and manufacturing and supply chain and logistics management. Enfield's Asnuntuck Community College and UConn, among other schools, also offer advanced manufacturing training programs. The state, too, supports the sector via its public colleges and vo-tech high schools, as well as training-apprenticeship programs overseen by the state Department of Labor. The state Department of Economic and Community Development also runs the $30 million manufacturing investment fund to sustain the sector's growth and expansion. However, despite the many options avail- able, and program sponsors' efforts to publicly promote their existence, many manufacturers don't utilize the support programs like ITBD. "A lot of manufacturers haven't taken advantage of everything that's available,'' said Jerry Klupper, executive director of the New Haven Manufacturers Association. Lack of awareness and a general reluctance among Connecticut manufacturers who are struggling technologically and/or financially to ask for help is a familiar refrain to ITBD Direc- tor Jessica Skuby and her boss, ITBD Manag- ing Director Richard C. Mullins Jr. Both say the organization, which although affiliated with CCSU has a $2 million yearly budget funded via consultation fees with clients and state and federal grants, has a tough time trumpeting its dual mission of industry support and skills development for a new generation of manufacturing engineers and technologists. Mullins says ITBD's faculty-in-residence program models CCSU's mission not only to educate its pupils but the wider community into which those students will eventually transition to start careers. One of ITBD's resident faculty, Haoyu Wang, a CCSU professor of manufacturing and con- struction management, has worked, along with one of the school's prize students, as an adviser to some of the 11 Connecticut manufacturers participating in the faculty-residence program. "He's an educator first, then a consultant,'' Mullins said of Wang. "He's there to educate, to expand knowledge.'' Aside from their own and university- linked Internet homepages, ITBD officials say they also rely on private-partner ties to get their messages out. For instance, the Continued H B J P H O T O S | G R E G O R Y S E A Y CCSU senior Marc-Charles Morquette of Stratford (top) with a part he created using additive technology. (Bottom) Thomas Menditto, TRiO ETS director at CCSU. www.kelsercorp.com 111 Roberts St, Suite D East Hartford, CT 06108 860 610 2200 Technology that speaks the language of your business.

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