McPherson to Lead Advanced Manufacturing Research and Training Center at the Olathe Campus

Wednesday, May 29, 2024 | Written by Beth Jones

 

OLATHE — Jonathan McPherson joins Kansas State University Olathe as the director of advanced manufacturing research and training.

Advanced manufacturing and supply chain is a strategic initiative at K-State Olathe designed to serve the growing manufacturing industry in the Greater Kansas City Region and nationally. As a Top 15 industrial market in the U.S., the region already has 190,000 manufacturing and logistics workers with many more needed to meet growth projections. To help address this need, unfinished space is being built out for student labs and applied research of advanced manufacturing and bulk solid material handling.

As director, McPherson will work closely with the executive director of strategic initiatives and others on campus to support the development of advanced manufacturing training by offering industry-focused short courses on bulk solids and handling.

The training programs are designed to further education and upskill employees through a combination of robust discussion of theory and practical hands-on learning with real equipment and systems. Each course includes classroom time, as well as industry tours through active factories.

McPherson will be responsible for the overall leadership and management of the advanced manufacturing research and training programs. He also will develop and manage an applied research program to solve industry problems.

Prior to joining K-State Olathe, McPherson was an account executive at Schenck Process LLC in Kansas City, Missouri. He maintained and developed business relationships within the industries of plastics, performance materials, battery and general industry. He also researched and pursued emerging industries to drive business growth, as well as provided estimates to a project’s budget, scope and needs.

McPherson served as both a senior sales applications engineer and a project engineer. He built highly technical proposals for the product offering, drafted initial drawings and documents such as flow diagrams, layout drawings, motor lists and written descriptions. As a project engineer, he managed industrial materials handling projects from project kickoff to full system commissioning.

McPherson holds a B.S. in engineering technology from Pittsburg State University.