TOYOTA Production Systems Laboratory
Industrial and Systems
Engineering
Winter 2013-14
Website: www.rit.edu/Toyotalab
Changes and continuing activities in the TPS Lab
Lab Leadership.
Dr Andres Carrano, who has
been the Director of the RIT
Toyota Production Systems Lab
since its inception in 2006, left
RIT in July to take a position at
Auburn University. We miss him
already, but feel fortunate for all
the work he put into creating
and improving this excellent
facility that our students and
many others in the community
benefit from.
Graduate students that have worked in the
lab expressed appreciation for
his “oceans full of knowledge”,
being a “great advisor and mentor”, how he could “anticipate
your mistake, yet have the patience to let you make it, and
then show it as an example to
help you realize it”, and his way
of “making students of different
cultural backgrounds feel comfortable”.
Toyota USA Foundation Grant
We have made significant progress developing and testing
math and science activities to
be delivered in the lab and online via the REMS (Relevant
NEWS

THE LAB HOSTED 14 SUMMER
AND 9 FALL CAMPS, AND 4
PROGRAMS FOR INCOMING 1ST
YR WOMEN

THE LAB ALSO HOSTED 44
FACULTY VISITORS

7 OF THE 9 REMS ACTIVITIES
HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED IN
THE LAB; PLUS SOME ON-LINE
Education in Math and Science) program which focuses
grades 5 to 12 students. The
lab versions of the 3 manufacturing and 3 distribution activities are up and running, along
with the on-line versions of
some of these. Our web site is
in place. Also, we have started
delivering one of the 3 health
care activities.
National Science Foundation
(NSF) Grant
The TPS Lab is being used to
support a project funded by
the NSF that seeks to improve
problem solving skills of students who are deaf. Students
participate as “workers” in both
warehouse distribution and
production line scenarios as
part of learning the “A 3” approach to problem solving.
Though the study is ongoing,
preliminary results strongly indicate that the experiential-based
approach is resulting in significant improvement in student
problem-solving skills.

CHANGE IN LAB LEADERSHIP

RECORD NUMBER OF LAB
ACTIVITIES IN PAST 6 MONTHS
QUICK FACTS
NUMBER OF STUDENTS (GRADES 511) THAT PARTICIPATED IN CAMPS
348
NUMBER OF INCOMING FRESHMAN
46
WOMEN THAT PARTICIPATED IN
“WE’RE IN MOTION” EXERCISES
OTHER VISITORS
121
Lab operations and other activities
Staffing
Although we are sad when
the graduate students who
work with us in the lab move
on, we are blessed with a
continuing group of excellent
“helpers”. Our lab alumni list
now includes Christian Lopez
and Sourabh Jain, as they are
on to the next steps in their
careers. Our current lab staff
is Atul Ghadge, Sean Murnan,
Ajith Sharma, and Kshitij
Luthria. Also, Arlene Meyer,
who helped us get REMS going, left for another position,
and Tina Bonfiglio is now working with us in a similar role.
Conference
RIT hosted a Material Handling
Industry (MHI) conference in
June, attended by 29 people,
including many educators,
from a variety of universities.
The conference included experiential activities in the lab.
Operations
Some fixture development and
other activities are ongoing,
but our focus is on the development and delivery of REMS.
Feedback: please contact Prof. John Kaemmerlen ([email protected]) or Dr. Matt Marshall ([email protected])