DENSO Robotics Donates to UT Chattanooga

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) officially opened its new Mechatronics Lab on March 31. DENSO Robotics was on hand to donate three robots and software to advance education in this rapidly growing engineering field.

“We need more students interested in engineering and technology,” said National Sales Manager David Robers, DENSO Robotics. “This is the perfect way for us to encourage that and help labs like these grow the next generation of engineers.”

Mechatronics combines electrical and mechanical engineering degrees. Robotic design, programming and maintenance are key study areas of the program.

“The industry is changing from traditional manufacturing to an industry 4.0 environment,” said Dean Daniel Pack, UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science. “Mechatronics is a new discipline that teaches students to prepare for those types of careers.”

DENSO Robotics donated two COBOTTAs for the lab, as well as the latest high-speed VMB six-axis robot. A COBOTTA is a human-friendly, compact and collaborative six-axis robot that can be taken anywhere and automate tasks quickly.

“Having these labs integrates all aspects of engineering and you can see how it all relates to each other,” said Erin Watson, mechatronics senior. “We definitely need relationships like what we have with DENSO Robotics, and we can’t thank them enough.”

DENSO Robotics plans to donate more than a dozen robots in 2021 to community tech and state university partners to excite future engineers and highlight advancements with the technology.

Learn more about DENSO Robotics here. And to see our roundup of the lab’s grand opening, watch this video.