Zach Dreyer & Kevin Salmon of URI had the opportunity to speak to students at the Northwest Technical Institute's (NWTI) Open House & Manufacturing Day in Springdale, AR on October 26th.

They spoke to students about robotic applications in manufacturing, covering welding & plasma cutting, material handling, machine tending, and dispensing. They also dispelled some fears among students concerning robotics taking jobs from technical trades such as welding. Kevin explained to students "There will always be a need for welders in the workforce because not every application is suited for robotic welding." He also encouraged students to think beyond the welding aspect stating "It's easier to teach a welder how to program robotics, than to teach a robotic programmer how to weld."

Zach had a 3D representation of some of our robotic cell layouts on display; showing students a tool we commonly use to show our customers a virtual illustration of what their cell would look like.

For more information about NWTI, you can visit their website at NWTI.edu.