Mechanical Engineering students from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (UNL) approached Lozier last summer asking if the company could help with their senior project. Their request was shared with Product Engineering Manager Tyler Holm and the Product Management team, who knew exactly how the students could help.

“We have needed an automated shelf tester for a while,” Holm said. “We currently do the testing manually with bags of steel. (The students) came in September to do a manual load test with us to understand the project. Then they went back and worked over the fall to work on a pneumatic load testing machine for us.”

Up until mid-December, Holm has been meeting with the UNL team weekly, offering the four students his advice and answering questions while they created the initial designs. Those designs are now complete, with the students presenting them in school as part of their fall semester finals.

In January, the students will again present on their design, this time to Lozier Engineers, who will offer feedback.

“These kinds of collaborations are a good opportunity to help out the local university and build the pipeline for awareness of Lozier with upcoming engineers,” Holm said. “They are helping Lozier with a useful project and they get an opportunity for a real-world design project.”

After the designs are approved, the students will work with Lozier’s Model Shop to build the working automatic shelf tester. Holm says the intent is to implement the student’s design, saying he’s just a little jealous of their opportunity.

“I had a senior design project too, but we made the idea ourselves and it didn’t have any real-world applications,” Holm said. “It’s beneficial to have a real-world experience like this, working with a company on a real problem to solve. These opportunities are important for me and Lozier to give back and build the relationship with engineering