CANFIELD, Ohio – Cardinal Mooney High School seniors Massimo Furr and BJ Granberry used a tablet to manipulate a collaborative robot as part of Manufacturing Day at Youngstown State University.

“We’re learning about robotics, how to get functional, move, how to move the stuff up and down,” BJ said.

It was challenging at first, Massimo said, but they figured it out after reading the directions.

“It’s cool seeing how robots can move around, and I can pick up a block somewhere and move it,” he said.

BJ agreed. 

“It’s pretty cool how that works,” he said.

And it’s something he might like to do in the future.

Massimo and BJ were among the roughly 60 students from six Mahoning Valley high schools participating Friday in the event at the Excellence Training Center in YSU’s Kohli Hall.

“Universal robots is like an introduction to robots,” said Steve Pownell, program manager in workforce training-robotics at the ETC, who led the session with Massimo and BJ. “These are collaborative robots, and I just gave them a brief overview of what robotics is.”

After the introduction, Pownell gave students printouts with directions and let them see how the robots work. It’s important to allow them to be hands-on, he said. “That way, they get a little more excited about the field …”

Jackie Ruller, ETC executive director, said one of the benefits for YSU in presenting Manufacturing Day is recruitment. The university does outreach with area kindergarten through 12th grade schools.

“Any good experience they have interacting with YSU is a positive step for the university,” she said.

Jackie Ruller, executive director of the Youngstown State University Excellence Training Center, left, and Alex Hertzer, executive director of the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition, stand beside a Fanuc collaborative robot at the ETC during Manufacturing Day.

Besides Mooney, students from Bristol, Warren G. Harding and Lordstown and Mahoning County Career & Technical Center and Valley STEM + ME2 Academy also participated in the event.

The Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition was one of the participants in the event.

“We want to expose them directly to employers,” said Alex Hertzer, MVMC executive director. “We want that direct connection, so up here, each employer has some sort of hands-on activity.”

Hertzer performed virtual welding for students, for example. Groups of students moved throughout the center, learning about PLCs, robots, machining, design and additive manufacturing.

ETC instructors as well as representatives from different companies were among presenters. Hertzer hopes students come to the ETC to train and then go work at one of the local companies.

Emily Granger, human resources manager at Wheatland Tube in Warren, showed students how quality control and inspections work at the company. Cardboard tubes filled the role of the tubes used by the business.

Emily Granger, human resources manager at Wheatland Tube, showed students at Youngstown State University’s Manufacturing Day how quality control works at the Warren company.

“They’re inspecting about 10 to 15 different tubes,” Granger said. “They’re going to follow this work order that’s kind of similar to what we give our QC techs in our labs on actual pipe and tube. They’ll have to see if these go with the diameter, length with visible defects. If not, they go into rejects before they get shipped out.”

At the Jaxon USA station, students used a 3D scanner used in quality assurance at the Mineral Ridge railroad equipment supplier. Josh Smith, a project engineer with the company, said the scanners are used to ensure parts match specifications.

“Instead of just measuring with a tape measure or calipers, we actually can compare the model to really precise, eight-thousandths of an inch,” he said.

Manufacturing Day occurs annually on the first Friday in October. It showcases modern manufacturing and exposes students to available careers.

Josh Smith, project engineer at Jaxon USA, taught students about quality assurance at the company using a 3D scanner.

Sue Mizik is a school counselor for the Harding Class of 2028. She brought six students to Manufacturing Day at YSU. 

“They were picked based on their career goals, their aptitude – and some of them know that they’re sort of interested in engineering, but they aren’t sure they want to go to a four-year college,” she said. “They’re here exploring their options so that next year they’re ready to make a plan and do solid applications.”

Judging from the students’ engagement, Mizik made a good choice.

“It’s obvious that they are the right students at the right place because they are laser focused,” she said. 

Pictured at top: Cardinal Mooney High School seniors Massimo Furr and BJ Granberry.