Principal investigator: Pingbo Tang
Co-PI: Christropher McComb
University: Carnegie Mellon University
Industry partners: DMI Companies and Fanatics, Inc.
Pennsylvania manufacturers endure significant financial losses from unplanned downtime and quality drift, challenges now compounded by the “silver tsunami” of retiring technical experts. This project addresses this dual crisis by deploying four CMU student Manufacturing Fellows to DMI Companies and Fanatics to digitize disappearing tacit knowledge. The Fellows will lead the development of an Integrated Multimodal Digital Twin, fusing industrial-grade vibration sensing with privacy-preserving computer vision to predict failures on high-speed stamping presses and heat-seal lines. By leveraging explainable AI (SHapley Additive exPlanations), the system attributes emerging risks to specific machine conditions or human operational patterns, visualizing them on a web-based decision support dashboard. Beyond technical innovation, the project drives workforce development: students gain immersive shop floor experience, while incumbent operators receive digital upskilling via student-led “Toolbox Talks.” This initiative bridges the gap between machine health, human operations, and the next generation of Pennsylvania manufacturing talent.