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| navigate: home: magazine: fall 2002: article | |
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Educating an industry, defining the future of modern bearing technology By Karen Tuohey Wing | ||||||
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First came the wheel. Then eventually, someone created an axle for the wheel. And then came the bearing. Bearings are one of the most basic components of any mechanical system: without them nothing moves. And while bearings are basic, they are not simple. Even so, most undergraduate mechanical engineering students receive only one week of formal instruction on ball and roller bearings. “Traditionally, training was done in-house, but as the industry became more demanding, the American Bearing Manufacturers Association (ABMA) began looking for an outside source to educate the people in their industry,” said Tedric “Ted” Harris, professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State and alumnus of the same program (B.S. and M.S. degrees). “I had done work with the ABMA years before, so they felt I could handle the development of the courses and, when they visited Penn State, they were impressed with the facilities.” That led to the formation of a program that, since its inception in 1995, has trained more than 500 managers and engineers in bearing and related industries. ABMA President David W. Rohn indicated that a task group made up of engineering managers from member companies reviewed and provided input on the basic course outline developed by Harris. “Having Ted as the lead on this was critical, because he brought to the table someone who had both the corporate experience and academic background,” Rohn said. “The end result is that the Bearing Technology Continuing Education Program has been a winner on a couple of levels. It filled a significant need in our industry. In addition, it provided our association with added prestige, visibility and revenue.” Rohn added that “since we started the program, more than 500 engineers from 55 companies have attended our courses at Penn State. The partnership with the University has been a total win-win. Having a resource like Ted Harris and the Penn State conference facilities meant we had all the key ingredients for success.” “Ted came from industry where he was very well respected,” said Terry Reed, director of Engineering Continuing and Distance Education at Penn State. “He has an unbelievable depth and breadth of experience that he’s passing on to a new generation of young engineers.” Harris, who spent 38 years in industry before teaching at Penn State, holds three U.S. patents and is the author of 60 technical publications, including the industry standard Roller Bearing Analysis, now in its fourth edition (Wiley, N.Y. 2000). He developed the first course titled Advanced Course for Modern Bearing Technology for Scientists and Engineers. This one-week program was a crash course in bearing technology and set the groundwork for those involved in the industry to further their own efforts. The success of this course led to requests for other courses: Essential Concepts in Modern Bearing Technology, A Modern Bearing Technology Overview for Managers and Executives, as well as advanced specialty courses on lubrication, vibration, noise and diagnostics and others. These courses, taught by Harris and other Penn State experts, incorporate the latest academic work, as well as real-world application experience. Select courses are offered two or three times a year and are promoted to the industry by the American Bearing Manufacturers Association’s Continuing Education Program. “This is a case of Penn State’s academic resources—faculty expertise and teaching experience—being applied under Ted’s leadership to meet an industry need,” Reed said. “Since the courses provide an economy of scale for the manufacturers, they have been very supportive of this program, at the highest levels.” The courses have a national and international draw from both private and public corporations, including General Electric, Pratt & Whitney (division of United Technologies), Morgan Construction Co., Moog Corp., the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center and all of the major ball and roller bearing companies in the world. In addition to furthering knowledge in the bearing industry, this program has enhanced Penn State’s image industry-wide. “Penn State has a very good reputation industry-wise, but when people come and see what’s available, they’re really impressed,” Harris said. “They take those impressions back to their companies (both nationally and internationally) and spread the word. It’s all good advertising for Penn State.” While Penn State benefits from this type of outreach activity, its reach goes much further and will help shape the future of bearing technology in the industries that rely on it. | |||||
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© 2002 Outreach Communications, Outreach & Cooperative Extension, The Pennsylvania State University phone: (814) 865-8108, fax: (814) 863-2765, e-mail: outreachnews@outreach.psu.edu |
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