By Tanna Pugh, Director

Limited resources don’t have to limit your potential. Are you passing up high-value opportunities designed to help small manufacturers afford to innovate and stay competitive?

R&D can optimize your production processes, expand or improve your product line, incorporate innovative technology into your facility, and much more. While most small manufacturers may know what problems they need to tackle, they lack the time, team members, or financial resources to invest in complex problem-solving.

Meanwhile, teams of emerging talent are ready to apply their knowledge, skill, and fresh perspectives to real-world challenges just like yours, for a fraction of the cost and time it would take for your internal team or working with paid consultants. Our statewide team of regional technical advisors knows firsthand that connecting with Penn State’s top talent can result in game-changing development for manufacturers.

At Penn State campuses across the Commonwealth, students on the verge of entering the workforce spend their final semesters on project-based learning designed to address real-life industry challenges. Capstone experiences pair teams of students with industry partners for 15-week projects to apply classroom learning to actual projects for real companies.

How Capstone Experiences Work

The Penn State Learning Factory coordinates senior design projects for the Penn State College of Engineering’s Capstone Design Program in the fall and spring semesters. Any business, nonprofit, entrepreneur, or professional client can apply with a real-world engineering design problem or opportunity for students to address. Businesses participate as sponsors who, in exchange for a small investment, collaborate with students on projects that can yield prototypes, proof-of-concept designs, or process improvements. The students gain hands-on learning and develop viable–not theoretical–solutions for industry sponsors. Through support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, PennTAP may be able to provide a voucher that will offset some of the cost to sponsor a Fall 2026 Learning Factory project.

The deadline to apply for the Penn State College of Engineering’s Capstone Design Program for Fall 2026 is July 31. Contact PennTAP today to apply for a voucher by July 24.

While the College of Engineering’s capstone program is Penn State’s largest and most prominent, capstones and similar industry partnership programs are available in other disciplines—including the colleges of agriculture, and business—and across Penn State campuses and colleges. Our Northeast PA Advisor Krista Schneider is currently helping to connect companies in her region with Fall 2026 partnership opportunities in mechanical engineering courses at Penn State Scranton.

Industry partnerships are also available beyond capstones. For example, six Pennsylvania companies recently received significant funding support through the Manufacturing PA Innovation Program to partner with Penn State faculty and students on research projects. Two project applications were supported by PennTAP advisors for manufacturers in Allegheny County and Erie County.

The Benefits

If you have not considered how partnering with Penn State can advance your business goals, here is what you’re missing:

• Cutting-edge engineering solutions for problems you put on the back burner.
• Creative approaches unencumbered by your existing constraints or legacy systems.
• Access to modern facilities, labs, and makerspaces.
• Relationship building with a pipeline of new talent.
• Minimal financial investment that can yield high-value outcomes.

  

How to Connect

No matter where in Pennsylvania your facility is located, there’s a PennTAP advisor in your region who can help you make the right Penn State connections for your business. Don’t miss these low-cost, high-impact opportunities to solve real problems, gain a competitive advantage, and cultivate a pool of future talent. Connect with our team here.