DENSO North America Foundation Awards Nearly $200,000 to Expand Hands ...

Cal Poly Pomona's College of Engineering has secured a $198,100 grant from the DENSO North America Foundation to enhance access to advanced manufacturing tools and hands-on project experiences for engineering students.

The funding supports the college's BEYOND Initiative, which focuses on providing extracurricular engineering opportunities through student clubs and competition teams. A key component of this initiative is the acquisition of advanced manufacturing equipment, including a large-scale carbon fiber 3D printer and an industrial multi-material printer capable of printing in metals, ceramics, and high-performance polymers.

These machines will offer students practical experience with fabrication technologies that are prevalent in the industry but typically unavailable at the undergraduate level. The equipment is expected to benefit over 200 students annually across various competition teams within the college.

Marty Deschenes, president of the DENSO North America Foundation and executive vice president and chief manufacturing officer for DENSO in North America, stated, "At DENSO, we believe that investing in education is investing in the future of mobility. By supporting universities across North America, we’re helping students unlock their potential and drive innovation in STEM fields that are critical to our industry’s growth and transformation."

Andrew Ketsdever, dean of the College of Engineering, emphasized the importance of practical experience, saying, "Our students learn the fundamentals in the classroom, but it's in the clubs, the competition teams, the late nights building something that doesn't quite work yet—that's where engineers are made. This grant makes more of that possible for more students."

The DENSO North America Foundation, the charitable division of the global automotive supplier DENSO, funds initiatives that promote education in science, technology, engineering, and math.