The Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI) recently hosted its ninth Internet of Things for Manufacturing (IoTfM) Symposium (November 8, 2023) focused on emerging IoT technologies in the manufacturing sector.

The yearly event is led by Andrew Dugenske, director of the Factory Information Systems (FIS) Center and principal research engineer at Georgia Tech. Dugenske’s FIS Center focuses on advances in factory architectures, machine communication, cloud computing, edge devices, machine learning, artificial intelligence, overall equipment effectiveness, and cybersecurity. Over the past 25 years, the FIS Center has undertaken projects with dozens of companies on a wide array of technological topics.

This year, the symposium event featured 17 industry leaders as presenters. Presenters included: GTMI, Renishaw, AT&T, Siemens, Stephanini Group, Cirrus Link Solutions, Teradyne, Hive MQ and Mr. IIOT. Expert industry consultants also made presentations such as from Russ Waddell, who gave an entertaining, educational, and eye-opening presentation titled “The Six-figure Work from Home Machinist.”

Comments from 2023 IoTfM symposium attendees:

“This has been a fantastic event,” said Chris Bentivegna, principal architect (advanced wireless) with AT&T. “I really appreciate the opportunity to come in, talk about 5G with Georgia Tech, and look forward to AT&T and Georgia Tech partnering on some new technologies and advancing manufacturing. It’s been a joy to be here.”

“We are an MQTT platform. What that means is that we help provide the platform on which machines can talk to each other, and also plug into enterprise IT systems on a global level,” said Gaurav Suman, director of product marketing for HiveMQ. “Here at the symposium, I'm finding it great that I'm getting an understanding of where challenges and solutions to those challenges are born. I can see us and many other technology providers coming together to talk about those issues, how they're adopted across industries. It's quite fantastic to be here.”

“It's been great to present my research and show industry attendees some of our capabilities and some of the machines we have and what they can do,” said Robert Caraway, doctoral student in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. “What I'm doing is making metal powders out of nickel titanium alloys, trying to do some recycling and other things. I'm currently working with my lab team members on creating new metal alloys.”

“It's great to be at Georgia Tech sharing insights into manufacturing with a lot of industry professionals and some really great graduate students,” said Dan Skulan, general manager of industrial metrology for Renishaw Inc. “We're talking about creating good, traceable processes and using the power of the internet and computing to make really good advancements in the efficiency of manufacturing, reduction in manpower, and sustainable practices.”

It's very exciting to be here today with the amazing audience that we have here,” said Dago Mata, head of business development Americas for the Stefanini Group.  “It's my fourth time participating, and we have great ideas to share for the manufacturing industry.”

“I think this is one of the best events at Georgia Tech connecting academia and industry,” said Kaveh Berenji, a postdoctoral fellow at GTMI. “This event fills the gap between what academia needs in terms of support from industry, and what industry needs in terms of scientific support from academia.”

Missed the symposium? You can download and view all presentations by visiting the 2023 IoTfM symposium webpage.

The event was sponsored by the state of Georgia’s innovation and manufacturing group, the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute, the Georgia Tech Factory Information Systems Center, and America Makes.

To learn more or to join next year’s invitation list, contact Andrew Dugenske at dugenske@gatech.edu.