2024 Morning Forum Now Sold Out
Please note registration for the 2024 morning Industry Forum is now sold out, registration is still open for the afternoon Open House only.
About keynote speaker John Dyck
John Dyck was appointed CEO of CESMII – The Smart Manufacturing Institute, in June of 2018. CESMII is a Manufacturing USA Institute chartered with transforming the U.S. manufacturing market and increasing global competitiveness through the democratization of Smart Manufacturing technologies, knowledge, and business practices.
John brings a highly pragmatic perspective to CESMII, and a crisp focus on outcomes that will benefit the Nation’s energy and economic security by sharing existing resources and co-investing to accelerate development and commercial deployment of innovative technologies. He was recognized by the Society of Manufacturing Engineering (SME) in 2020 as one of ‘30 Leaders Transforming Manufacturing in the USA’.
Prior to joining CESMII, John held senior leadership positions in large corporations like GE and Rockwell Automation, and was effective in raising VC funding and building a successful software startup called Activplant.
Founded in 2016, in partnership with Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, CESMII is the third institute funded by Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office. The Institute is accelerating Smart Manufacturing adoption through the integration of advanced sensors, data (ingestion – contextualization – modeling – analytics), platforms and controls to radically impact manufacturing performance, through measurable improvements in areas such as: quality, throughput, costs/profitability, safety, asset reliability and energy productivity. CESMII’s program and administrative home is with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
The data tells us a disconcerting story. Manufacturing productivity – for the first time in recorded history, has been declining. And at a point in history where, as we’re reshoring, near-shoring and friend-shoring, there’s an unprecedented demand for us to be more competitive. This calls for a new approach. Our existing capabilities, methodologies and cultures have brought us this far, but are clearly not sufficient – a strong indicator that manufacturing transformation isn’t just a good strategy, it’s a matter of survival. The 4th Industrial Revolution was supposed to herald that transformation, but it hasn’t yet materialized.
Join us to exemplify the characteristics, capabilities and behaviours that represent Smart Manufacturing – a vision for the future of manufacturing that drives transformation in three key areas:
Aligning education, workforce development and continuous improvement strategies to create data-driven cultures.
Goal: organizational structures that align resources and people for SM success
Aggressive evolution from proprietary, closed ecosystems, enabling interoperability based on standards that eliminate data silos, stovepipe architectures and vendor lock-in.
Goal: drive down costs and improve agility
Collaborative strategies enabling plants connected to the enterprise and supply chains for real-time data-driven business orchestration.
Goal: flexible and agile processes and supply chains easily reconfigured for changing market demands Smart Manufacturing
Draft agenda (subject to change):
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. | Registration and light breakfast |
| 9 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. | Welcome remarks |
| 9:15 a.m. – 10 a.m. | Keynote presentation: John Dyck |
| 10 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. | Networking break |
| 10:20 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Panel discussions |
| 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. | Networking lunch |
| 1 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. | Industry open house (multiple sites) |
Highlights from the 8th Annual Manufacturing Forum (2023)
The McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute welcomed over 350 industry experts, researchers, students, and vendors to our eighth annual Open House and Industry Forum, which took place on Thursday, May 11, 2023. The event was a resounding success, thanks to our keynote speaker, panelists, sponsors, staff, students, and attendees.
The event’s keynote speaker, Tony Schmitz, is a leading expert in manufacturing who addressed the topic of manufacturing in a digital world during his keynote presentation. During his keynote speech, he shared valuable insights on the various tools available to access and measure vibrations within specific machines and how digital tools can be used to find ideal machining parameters. Schmitz is renowned for his research in the field of manufacturing, particularly in areas such as machining dynamics, machine learning, and additive manufacturing. He is dedicated to supporting the US machine tool industry, and his work continues to optimize manufacturing processes.
The day continued with the panel section of the forum, focusing on topics including:
- the 5G mmWave private network, discussed by panelist David Wale, Director at Terago
- machining, automation, and AI, discussed by panelist Alexander Berger, President and CEO of A. Berger Precision Ltd
- robotics, discussed by panelist Kevork Sevadjian, CEO and Co-Founder at Gastronomous
- AI, discussed by panelist Maryam Emami, CEO at AI Materia Inc
- training and upskilling, discussed by panelist Medora Uppal, CEO at the YWCA Hamilton.
To thank our panelists, the MMRI made a donation in each of the event speakers’ names to McMaster Venture Camp.
Highlights from the 7th Annual Manufacturing Forum (2019)
What happens when you bring a group of industry leaders passionate about manufacturing into one room? For some, it becomes one of the highlights of the year.
The seventh annual forum and open house on Thursday, May 2, 2019 was a success with over 250 industry representatives, researchers and students in attendance.
The keynote speakers Cameron Schuler, Irene Sterian, and Jayson Myers delivered engaging and impactful presentations centred around Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Manufacturing.
John Preston, Associate Dean, Research and External Relations for McMaster Engineering, reflected on this year’s open house saying:
The MMRI Open House is one of the highlights of the year. It brings hundreds of people from industry to McMaster and is a great chance for us to introduce ourselves, what we can do and what problems industries are facing and celebrate past successes.
Other speakers included:
- Pieter Jan Provoost, Business Group Leader Markets / Director Energy Technology Club / International Relations, Agoria
- Gina Succi, Chief Executive Officer at Westhill Innovation Inc
- Evert Nieboer, General Manager, Process Automation at ArcelorMittal Dofasco
- Shalabh Bakshi, Vice President, Digital Enterprise Services ASEAN, Siemens
- Simon Drexler, General Manager, Automation Products at ATS Corporation
With over 300 industry representatives, researchers and students in attendance, keynote speakers, Jayson Myers, CEO of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, and Don McIntosh, Senior Fellow of Manufacturing Technology, Pratt and Whitney, shared their insights on the future of manufacturing in Canada.
“The Supercluster doesn’t begin and end in a local area,” Myers said. “What we’re really trying to do is leverage as much of the research and development; the knowledge and the technology assets that we have in this region for the benefit of manufacturers and the benefit of the Canadian economy as a whole.”
Keynote speaker:
Michael F. Zaeh, Prof. Dr.-Ing, TU Munich, Germany: Industry 4.0 Made Tangible -Tangible Things Within Industry 4.0
Expert Panel moderated by Dennis Darby, President & CEO of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters
- Roger Hallett, Festo: Industry 4.0 – The Future of Manufacturing Begins Today
- Daniel Madrea, DMG Mori: Industry 4.0 – Path of Digitalization
- Joris Myny, Siemens: Driving the Digital Enterprise
- Rick Huibregts, Cisco: Re-defining Manufacturing in the Age of Digital Disruption
The MMRI has hosted webinars, such as:
The A to Z of materials testing in the composites industry
A four-part series sponsored by ZwickRoell and the MMRI, which covered:
- Further mechanical test methods often performed for composites, including interlaminar fracture toughness, compression-after-impact (CAI), open- and filled-hole tension and compression and bolt-bearing
- Testing at different time durations, from creep to high strain rate, and different methods for compression testing of composites, including applicable test standards, test fixtures, test validation criteria and failure modes
- The importance of accurate strain measurement and the different requirements for strain measurement dictated by the basic in-plane composite test methods (tension, compression and shear)
Presenters: Dr. Hannes Körber, ZwickRoell Industry Manager for Composites and Dr. Mehdi Dargahi, Regional Sales Manager
The MMRI has hosted in-person seminars, such as:
A practical workshop on cutting tools for high performance machining operations
This workshop helped participants learn how to choose the right tool and maximize its use. Instruction covered:
- Choosing the best geometry to prevent tool damage, achieve the highest surface quality, perform at the highest productivity, better manage chips/swarf
- Reduce tool wear by understanding wear mechanisms, learning how to measure tool wear, finding the root causes, learning preventative actions.
- Learning about different classes of tool materials/coatings, such as performance, properties, limitations and characterization.
Organizer and instructor: Maryam Aramesh.
Guest lecturer: Jose Mario Paiva.