IDEELab Mississippi State University - Advancing Engineering Education

08/27/2026

ACE Training at the Mississippi State IDEELab!!

Come join us and build real-world skills through experiential and advanced training! Open to students, professionals, and industry partners! Visit us in the IDEELab, located in Patterson Engineering Laboratories, Monday- Thursday from 2:00-6:00pm.

We are so proud to partner with !!

08/24/2026

Exciting things are coming to the IDEELab!

Mississippi State University’s IDEELab is partnering with METAL for America to expand advanced manufacturing opportunities, technical skill development, and experiential learning across campus.

We are so grateful for this partnership and the platform it offers our students to transform creative concepts into tangible products.

08/21/2026

08/21/2026

Our team had the amazing opportunity to visit Ohio State University’s Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence! Take a look at some of their fun projects!

08/19/2026

Happy First Day of Class, Bulldogs! Come see us in the IDEELab and get hands-on experience!

08/14/2026

| Day 28 🚀

Engineering challenges are waiting to be solved—and the IDEELab Mississippi State University - Advancing Engineering Education is preparing students to tackle them.

Meet and explore how students are turning , research, and hands-on problem-solving into innovations with real-world impact and that help shape what comes next.

Preview the Summit 🔗 https://www.imts.com/smartforce/

Preview the Mississippi State Exhibit # 211840 🔗 https://directory.imts.com/8_0/floorplan/?hallID=21&level=1&st=hall&sv=21&ss=exhibitor&selectedBooth=booth%7E211840

The Summit is brought to you by International Manufacturing Technology Show, AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology, and SME.



Mississippi State University Tooling U-SME SME Education Foundation

05/10/2026

The MSU IDEELab team is incredibly thankful for the opportunity to partner with Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) on “Train-the-Trainer” activities for the America’s Cutting Edge (ACE) ’s Machining Program in College Station, Texas.

This collaboration highlights how workforce development partnerships continue to extend the reach of advanced manufacturing training far beyond the borders of Mississippi. IDEELab Coordinators Trace Duncan and José Alejandro Martinez did an outstanding job representing Mississippi State University while sharing knowledge, best practices, and training strategies that help strengthen the future manufacturing workforce nationwide.

It is always great coming together with our Maroon friends at Texas A&M to support impactful hands-on engineering education and workforce development initiatives.

Workforce. Education. Innovation. It all starts with partnerships.

04/30/2026

The IDEELab was proud to be represented this week at SAMPE, contributing to the panel discussion “From Lab to Line: Developing a Workforce to Take Applied Research to Successfully Manufactured Composite Products.”

Our Director, Ross Smith, had the opportunity to share how the IDEELab is bridging the gap between applied research and real-world manufacturing through hands-on training, industry-driven projects, and workforce-focused education.

This conversation was made even more impactful alongside one of our key partners, IACMI – The Composites Institute / America's Cutting Edge (ACE) , as we continue to align efforts in building a skilled workforce ready to support the future of advanced composites and manufacturing.

At the IDEELab, we remain committed to connecting workforce, education, and innovation—ensuring that what is developed in the lab successfully transitions to the production line.

04/17/2026

All majors welcome. All minds encouraged.

04/17/2026

It was truly an honor to spend time this week at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) in Montgomery, Alabama.

Experiences like this are what continue to drive the development and recruitment of our incredible students, connecting classroom learning with real-world impact. Seeing our students engage, ask questions, and step confidently into professional environments is exactly why we do what we do.

A sincere thank you to the HMMA team for your outstanding hospitality and for taking the time to host us. Your investment in the next generation of engineers does not go unnoticed.

We’re also incredibly grateful to the Bagley College of Engineering and the MSU Foundation for helping make opportunities like this possible. It takes a strong network of partners to create meaningful pathways for our students and this is a perfect example of that in action.

Looking forward to continuing to build these relationships and opening even more doors for our students.