Ozarks Technical Community College has begun construction on its Springfield, Mo., campus of the Robert W. Plaster Center for Advanced Manufacturing.
The college says the $40 million facility will be the first of its kind in southwest Missouri and will offer the latest educational advancements and training opportunities in robotics, fabrication, mechatronics, automation, and drafting and design.
The 120,000-square-foot facility will be home to many of the college’s technical programs, including:
- Industrial Systems Technology
- Manufacturing Technology
- Precision Machining
- Drafting and Design
- Computer Networking
The center also will have classes in automation, fabrication, robotics and additive manufacturing (3D printing).
The facility also will house a business incubation center and a space reserved for local industry to conduct training, research and development.
The ability to train the next generation of workers on modern equipment prompted Emerson, a global technology and engineering firm based in St. Louis, to donate half-a-million dollars to the project in 2020. Emerson’s investment will pay for the Emerson Innovation Discovery Lab, which will serve as a starting and ending point for facility tours with hands-on activities for students and tour participants.
The State of Missouri awarded the college a $4.75 million grant that will pay for much of the equipment and educational apparatus that will be housed in the facility.
The college plans to have the facility completed by fall 2022.
The architects are Dake | Wells Architecture and Perkins & Will. The builder is Crossland Construction.
