The word robot might spur images of Hollywood action flicks, faraway futures or a children’s toy crossing the living room floor. However, recent developments in automation have made robotic systems an important part of worldwide industries. At the Blattner Robotics Lab at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, students receive hands-on experience.
“Automation is at the forefront, and I think it's also clear that it's here to stay,” said Dr. Thomas Secord, associate professor and program director, MS in Mechanical Engineering, who arrived at St. Thomas in 2016 after six years at Medtronic. He credits experience with local industry as vital to the curriculum he teaches. Experiencing the demands and developments of corporate America is helpful when preparing students for life after graduation.
The Blattner Robotics Lab opened in 2025, thanks to generous donations from the Blattner family and from Graco, a manufacturing company with a large presence in the Twin Cities.
“The United States has many manufacturing plants, and in a lot of those manufacturing plants there is dangerous machinery,” said Nicolas Welle, a student-athlete on the swim and dive team who enjoys learning about physics and mathematics. “With more robots and more automation, we can eliminate that risk factor from the workforce. It'll be safer and much more efficient.”
Welle, who is from Alexandria, Minnesota, is fascinated by how things work. For example, imagine a dark room. Suddenly, a lightbulb is lit and the light spreads to every corner of the room. All of this comes from a little bulb of glass, a few copper wires embracing.
“We can power a light from nothing, basically, just by a light switch. I found it interesting to try and understand how that all works,” Welle said. That’s when he knew he would study electrical engineering. Learning about and using robots in class is a part of that journey.
“These are all industry-standard robots,” Secord said. “Experience with these robots at St. Thomas, allows them to hit the ground running in an automation setting in an actual workplace environment.”
Outside of having the latest and greatest hardware, Secord believes the University of St. Thomas is uniquely positioned to assess the social side of robotics. A curriculum with a strong emphasis on ethical inquiry, philosophy and theology. The program focuses on robotics enhancing human efforts, not replacing them.
“Take all the 3h and 3d out of human work: hot, heavy, hazardous, dull, dirty, dangerous – leaving that to the robots,” he said.
The Blattner Robotics Lab provides opportunities for multiple disciplines. Intended for students majoring in both electrical and mechanical engineering, the lab can be used for training in computer science on the programming side and for students studying artificial intelligence or hardware.
“One of the main goals of this lab is to really highlight the interdisciplinary nature of robotics, uniting expertise from different fields,” Secord said.
The Blattner Robotics Lab is located in the Schoenecker Center, a building that on its own is a celebration of intersectionality. The center houses engineering, natural science, music and journalism. As one walks down the well-lit halls, vibrant art and science are united by beauty, inquiry and purpose. A manifestation of the liberal arts, built in the heart of the Twin Cities.
The FANUC robot in the lab teaches students to program multiaxis motion-controlled robots. Like an upscale game of Operation, students program and control the robot's arm as it moves over the shape of a small human body. As the arm of the bright yellow robot moves over the body shape, small lights located in different parts of the body light up.
The FANUC six-axis robotic arm is joined by two Epson SCARA robot arms, two of the most used devices in the industry.
The lab also features a Universal Robots collaborative robot (cobot), providing a versatile, safety-conscious platform for exploring human-robot interactions in shared workspaces.
“I think that St Thomas is uniquely suited to collaborate with several local industry partners, like Graco, who are very much a partner in this project,” Secord said. “Local companies will be very interested in the types of research that we can do here and in students that have unique expertise.”
Robotics has also integrated into the K-12 outreach that St. Thomas does. Through the STEPS program, girls currently in the 6th, 7th or 8th grade are invited to a day of engineering and creation. They connect with mentors, explore robotics and other engineering labs, and enjoy life on campus. The experience is free and provides an opportunity to gain new friendships and learn from college students and teachers about engineering.
Theory only goes so far. Students are excited about the opportunity to apply their knowledge. In an ever-changing landscape of technological developments, that experience is vital.
“I think this hands-on experience will help my future because we all know robots are going to be in the workspace a lot more as technology develops and improves,” Welle said. “So, it's good to have that experience before you get into the workspace so employers can see, ‘Oh, he's got experience with robots.’”
