An interdisciplinary teaming laboratory on industrial networks

A theme emerging from industry in the last years was the need for better education in logic control for manufacturing systems. The topic is interdisciplinary in nature. Modern manufacturing operation is a very complex issue and has to stem from various engineering disciplines, but in most academic settings the different disciplines are taught in isolation and are not representative of the type of experiences students will encounter in industry. The authors made an experience with four different discipline engineering students sharing the same laboratory. They are working with electric, electronic, industrial and informatics engineering senior students, because these are the fields that converge in the design, management and operation of a CIM centre.