FANUC Robotics North America Inc. of Rochester Hills, Mich., recently contributed virtual robotics simulation software and four robots with embedded Internet cards valued at approximately $242,000 to Kettering University's Manufacturing Engineering laboratories.

In addition, Kettering contributed $50,000 to further support the incorporation of these resources, which Dr. Lucy King, professor of Manufacturing Engineering, said will be available for classes and research opportunities. King also noted that this $50,000 contribution represents an earlier gift to the department from a Ford Motor Co. Fund grant made earlier in the year.

King said that these resources will help further extend the class integration she and Dr. Jackie El-Sayed established spring term 2002 for El-Sayed's MECH-312 Machine Design class and King's MFGG-499 Robotics class. During the spring 2002 term, their students worked in collaborative groups to design and manufacture a prototype gripper based on a specific budget. With these new resources now available thanks to FANUC Robotics North America Inc., King said that robot simulations and programs are now transportable through the University computer network, which offers efficiencies previously unavailable.