Hear from Dr. Christopher Saldana, an associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. His research has been supported by a number of industry entities and government agencies (e.g., DOE, DMDII, NIST, ARO, NSF, DARPA, ARL, etc.).

Sensors are changing our world everywhere. Broad band connectivity makes the data from these sensors available at our fingertips. A similar scenario is evolving in the manufacturing sector, where sensors are used throughout manufacturing operations and on virtually all manufacturing systems and equipment. This talk discusses the availability and utility of sensors on the manufacturing floor, and how such information is being used to improve productivity, quality and profitability via integration into cyber physical systems in the digital manufacturing sector. The presentation will also provide some insight into the direction that sensor utilization is heading in the manufacturing workspace, and the types of opportunities and value propositions that they will enable in the very near future. This new area will revolutionize manufacturing operations from the production floor to the global supply chain, and there is no end in sight in terms of the opportunities and benefits.