Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


New University of Houston Robotics Lab Provides Students with Hands-on STEM Skills

industrial robots

The University of Houston's Cullen College of Engineering has unveiled a new robotics laboratory designed to prepare students for real-world engineering challenges. Technologies and equipment for the lab were donated by the Omron Foundation, the charitable arm of industrial automation company Omron.

The lab features a robotics area as well as a section dedicated to senior design projects, where students work on capstone projects that give them real-world design experience and job-ready skills. For example, recent senior projects included a sorting robot and a mobile robotic billboard.

"Prospective employers will expect [students] to speak intelligently about what they worked on for their design project, so the experience they gain at this stage is very important," said Len Trombetta, associate department chair for electrical and computer engineering, in a statement. "This makes our graduates very marketable because these are skills companies want."

Trombetta added that access to state-of-the-art technology encourages students to excel: "If you walk into a laboratory, and there's equipment there for you and resources available to you, you're going to do a better job than if you have to fight for a bench or scrounge for equipment. It means a lot for the students to be able to come in and have a place they call their own, where they can work on their projects and have all the equipment and resources they need."

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • abstract smartphone translucent screen displaying AI interface

    Apple Introduces Redesigned Siri AI

    At its recent Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple introduced Siri AI, a redesigned version of its voice assistant that Apple describes in its own announcement as "a profoundly more capable and personal assistant." The update is intended to make Siri more conversational, more context-aware, and more useful across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.

  • Abstract polygonal hacker with laptop on technology dark background

    Cybersecurity Researchers Identify First Fully Autonomous AI-Driven Ransomware Attack

    Threat researchers at cloud security firm Sysdig have disclosed what they describe as the first documented ransomware operation carried out end-to-end by an autonomous AI agent, with no human typing commands or directing individual steps once the attack was underway.

  • closeup of hands using smart phone

    Learning Continuity Built into the LMS Withstands Cloud or Cybersecurity Interruptions

    When your institution's administrative or instructional capabilities face disruption from natural, technical, or malicious events, what measures does your LMS offer to provide a "business as usual" operating and learning environment? Instructure's Ryan Lufkin comments on the LMS and learning continuity.

  • Blurred silhouettes of business people in a modern office with a glowing blue network overlay

    Open Secure AI Alliance Moves to Linux Foundation

    The Open Secure AI Alliance has moved under the Linux Foundation, giving the initiative what the organizations describe as a neutral home for developing open source tools, shared standards and defensive practices. The Alliance was launched by NVIDIA in July to develop open security technologies for AI systems and agents.