ECU students attend SouthTec conference

Students from ECU’s chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers attended the Southtec conference in Greenville, South Carolina. (Contributed photo)

A group of students from the East Carolina University chapter for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) attended the SouthTec conference in Greenville, South Carolina.

The conference brought together manufacturing suppliers, distributors and equipment builders from across the country and throughout the world.

The event featured hundreds of exhibits from various companies, giving the students the chance to explore what industry has to offer them after they graduate from ECU. Those exhibits included the newest tools, robots and manufacturing equipment.

The students also had the chance to speak with a variety of industry representatives and to learn about new equipment and processes. The conference also afforded the students the chance to network with company representatives.

In the end, the conference provided the students a chance to learn and come away with ideas about how to shape the future.

The three-day conference featured more than 6,000 attendees. It is part of the Manufacturing Technology Series put on by the national SME as well as the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT).

SME is a nonprofit association of professionals, educators and students that promotes and supports the manufacturing industry. It is designed to help manufacturers innovate, grow and prosper through the development of a skilled workforce and the promotion of manufacturing technology.

AMT represents and promotes American-based manufacturing technology and its members who design, build, sell and service the technology that is at the heart of manufacturing.