MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University Engineering Technology students can’t wait for their new Applied Engineering Building to open next year and they’re equally excited about more than $1 million in equipment that may be available to them starting this fall.

Chair Ken Currie said the Engineering Technology Department received transfer of ownership of 10 FLEXBASE automation work centers from Dexcom valued at almost $920,000. The units were sold to Dexcom by La Vergne, Tennessee-based Automation Nth, who committed more than $100,000 in supplies and services to upgrade the units. 

Sophomore Daniel Wetter, a mechatronics engineering major from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was among a group of students receiving a firsthand look at the equipment that will prepare them for the workforce.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for engineering students to develop their skills with robotics for real-world industry experience and hands-on educational opportunities,” Wetter said.

“I’m looking forward to the capabilities of our new building and the equipment that will allow us to further understand real-world robotics applications,” he added.

Currie said the equipment “will benefit all students within the engineering and technology programs at MTSU. These are totally integrated workcells with robotics, vision systems and controls that need to be programmed to meet project limitations and constraints.

“… The beauty of these automation workcells is that each subsystem is modular and easily upgraded as machine learning or advancements in controls were to make quantum leaps forward.” 

Jeff Buck, Automation Nth co-president responsible for technical and project execution, said his company’s “so excited this has worked out. This is outstanding.”

“As part of this effort, we would like to assist MTSU by outfitting the FAST Bases with some key building blocks (top plates, pallets, lift and locates, stop assemblies, conveyors and more) for you to use along with some other key hardware including controls hardware, Epson robots and more to help set you up for success,” Buck added.

Expected to open in fall 2025, the $74.8 million, 89,000-square-foot Applied Engineering Building being constructed on the east side of campus will provide enhanced student opportunities for faculty-led research and labs for student teams including the Experimental Vehicles Program and robotics competitions.

There will also be industry-inspired automation and fabrication labs.

“Together, these two companies will be showcased in our new building with the 2,000-square-foot Dexcom Automation Laboratory and 500-square-foot Automation Nth Vision Systems Lab,” Currie said.

San Diego, California-based Dexcom is a company that manufactures glucose monitors used to check blood levels for those diagnosed with diabetes.

“Automation Nth is one of the key automation suppliers of solutions to provide clean, reliable, high-quality solutions for Dexcom’s manufacturing needs,” Currie said. “We’re extremely excited this partnership came together to benefit our current and future students.”

Engineering Technology is one of 11 College of Basic and Applied Sciences departments. For more information, call 615-898-2776.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)