Kennedy Valve has steadily been working to expose more local students to the manufacturing industry through active partnerships with the community. This fall, the facility will mark one year of collaborating with Binghamton University's (BU) Watson Institute for Systems Excellence (WISE) program. The program connects master's and Ph.D. graduate students with federal and industry sponsors to conduct innovative industry-based research. The approach helps the Southern Tier New York State public university system compete with larger programs such as Georgia Tech and the University of Michigan.
The program partnered with Kennedy Valve through the local Alliance for Manufacturing and Technology (AMT) to build on relationship opportunities with Kennedy Valve before formally introducing students into the Kennedy workspace. Two graduate students from WISE, Abdulraqeb Al-Sarori and Anas Abjuaber, have been working with Kennedy Valve team members to learn more about the business and, review any challenges or obstacles that might hinder success and provide research-based solutions.
The students recently presented their project updates to Kennedy Valve's leadership team and program professors from BU. These projects included but were not limited to a digital and interactive Gate Valve Production scheduling system (Kanban), Autonomous Imaging for Gate Valve Powder Coat Quality Control Monitoring, Machine Tooling Inventory and Facility Layout, Hydrant Repair Tags and Communication Portal, and Maintenance Pro Integration with User Manuals.
"There are a couple of these projects that Kennedy Valve and the students plan to review and present for U.S. Patent, which would be an incredible demonstration of the McWane Way Excellence standard of Always Working to be Better," Assistant General Manager Alex Fresonke said. “With BU's renewed focus on implementing students and technology into the local manufacturing environment, along with relationships of AMT and Kennedy Valve, we have developed a sustainable active partnership which adds value to our organization and enriches the experience of two local students.”
