Manufacturing News
September 29, 2026
September 29, 2026 · Tippecanoe County · Story 6 of 6
Purdue Opens Rittal/Eplan Engineering Labs
Purdue University, Rittal, and Eplan (sister companies under Germany's Friedhelm Loh Group) cut the ribbon Sept. 15, 2026 on two new labs in Dudley Hall: the Eplan Electrical Engineering Technology Projects Lab and the Rittal Automation Systems Lab. The labs are the first physical build-out of a five-year partnership signed at the Rockwell Automation Fair in Chicago in November 2025, making Purdue Polytechnic the primary U.S. academic partner in the Rittal + Eplan Partner Network.
- Impact
- The under-reported piece is the joint R&D clause: Purdue's IN-MaC testbed gives Rittal and Eplan a low-cost U.S. sandbox to test North American product configurations and UL 508A compliance workflows without building their own American lab. It also means graduating students arrive pre-configured toward the Friedhelm Loh Group ecosystem rather than competitors like Schneider Electric or nVent's Hoffman brand, though Eplan's overlap with ABB's e-Configure platform gives Purdue grads a de facto multi-vendor skill set neither company has publicized.
- Watch
- How quickly Purdue integrates the curriculum into internship pipelines, and whether the partnership extends into the Purdue Polytechnic High School network as planned.
- For the huddle
With panel-shop and control-cabinet talent now training specifically on the Eplan/Rittal toolchain, should we build a direct recruiting relationship with Purdue Polytechnic before automotive and aerospace employers lock up this graduating class?
From the brief, September 29, 2026
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- Nestle Loses $21 Million Tax Reduction Bid in Anderson
- Slate Auto and Two Orthopedic Suppliers Compete for the Same Warsaw Workers
- Gov. Braun's $175M Federal SPARK Grid Grant
- Purdue-Illinois Semiconductor Workforce Initiative
- Purdue Opens Rittal/Eplan Engineering Labs
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