Grant funds provide new robotic equipment for VGCC Mechatronics training

The Mechatronics lab on Vance-Granville Community College’s South Campus continues to gain state-of-the-art equipment, purchased with grant funds. The newest addition is the MAS 200 Modular Assembly System produced by SMC International Training, a company based in Spain.

A Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor — the single largest competitive grant award received in VGCC’s history — paid for the system.

Roger Giddens, a consultant from Moultrie Technical College in Georgia, recently visited the college to conduct a “train-the-trainer” session on the new equipment.

VGCC’s new Mechatronics Engineering Technology program provides training for jobs in advanced manufacturing. MAS 200 is a modular training system which emulates a real industrial assembly process, incorporating the technologies required by today’s automated industries. The system consists of five stations, one of which is a robot that carries out assembly and disassembly tasks. All the components of the MAS 200 are used by today’s advanced manufacturers, giving VGCC students the knowledge and hands-on experience they will need in their careers.

For more information about studying Mechatronics, contact program head Keith Shearon at shearonj@vgcc.edu  or (252) 738-3541.

Above:  From left, Roger Giddens, a consultant from Moultrie Technical College in Georgia, trains VGCC Mechatronics program head/instructor Keith Shearon on the operating features of the MAS 200 Modular Assembly System produced by SMC. (VGCC photo)