Fond du Lac’s Moraine Park Technical College is celebrating a newly constructed Automation, Innovation and Robotics Center. The AIR Center is the first of four referendum projects approved by voters-updating Moraine Park’s Advanced Manufacturing and Trades area. MPTC president Bonnie Baerwald says the project is expected to be fully completed this summer with students first utilizing the space in the fall. “Back in 2020 we realized that automation and robotics was really the framework of what you (industry) needed to address workforce talent shortage,” Baerwald said. “Twenty six percent of our workforce in the communities that we serve are working in the manufacturing industry so this is an important part of our community engagement.” The AIR Center is partially funded by donor contributions of nearly $2.7 million. David Schneider is the president of the Giddings and Lewis Foundation Fund, and alumnus of MPTC. “The Giddings and Lewis Foundation is pleased to be able to support Moraine Park Technical College in training the next generation of talent in the technology of the future with this beautiful addition,” Schneider said. In addition to the AIR Center, the two-phase project includes an update of the existing B-Wing facilities.
