Engineering innovation meets industry need

What began as a Central Michigan University senior engineering group project resulted in a machine that is now used by metro Detroit-based SAPA Transmission, creating efficiency and saving the company money.

Students designed and built a machine that automates a critical part of the production process for SAPA, a leader in advanced transmission technology solutions for the military.

“SAPA builds transmissions for armored combat vehicles, which need stacks of very small washers,” CMU senior Breckin Prichard said. “Currently, they have an operator, a real person, stack these tiny washers by hand, which takes a long time. They need upwards of a thousand stacks per week.” 

The group of CMU students — now alumni — researched, engineered and built the machine throughout the academic year, with guidance and feedback from CMU professor Terry Lerch and a team of SAPA employees, led by Joe Glinski, a CMU alumnus and SAPA’s director of manufacturing.

The student project also is part of an ever-evolving partnership between the university and SAPA Transmission through CMU’s Industrial Affiliate Program, which launched in March 2025. Through that program, engineering students engage in joint research projects with the SAPA team. At the same time, SAPA gains access to future engineering professionals, helping to keep talented individuals in Michigan.

“Industry partners like SAPA play an important part in the academic and professional development of our engineering students,” said engineering professor Terry Lerch, who advised the student group. “A technically challenging, real-world problem that required the students to produce a creative, yet practical solution was a win-win-win for the students, the university and SAPA.” 

From campus to production line

Glinski was impressed with the students’ professionalism, ingenuity and work ethic.

“There are things that we saw on this project that I normally would have hired a company around metro Detroit to do — professionals with 10, 20, 30 years of experience,” Glinski said. “These students have this much experience, and they were able to pull it off.”

Glinski said the machine has already been integrated into SAPA’s production line.

“I can redeploy a person on the floor to do something else now,” he said. “The machine will pay for itself within the year, and we'll be able to run things at night to be ready for the technicians in the morning.” 

A mutually beneficial partnership

The SAPA Transmission employee team also included Madeline St. Pierre and Will Werner, both 2024 CMU graduates. St. Pierre is a manufacturing engineer and Werner is a business development associate.

St. Pierre said the SAPA team focused on collaboration, meeting with the students regularly and ensuring they had the necessary parts.

“This is a two-way street. You can't ask them to be successful if you're not going to help them,” she said.

Abby Olin, a mechanical engineering major, said her education at CMU prepared her for the project.

“All of the senior design groups were thrown into something we hadn't seen before, but our education gave us the toolbox to know where to go to figure things out,” she said.

Five of the six May graduates who worked on the SAPA project have since begun jobs at companies such as Ford Motor Co., Fastenal, B&P Littleford, Bosch and Total Security Solutions. 

From student project to soldier support

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Words from CMU alumnus Ret. Maj. Gen. Darren Werner, president of SAPA Transmission:

“The senior design project between SAPA Transmission and the College of Science and Engineering represented exactly the kind of real-world collaboration we need to develop the next generation of engineers. We challenged the team with a true manufacturing problem — one that required them to integrate design, programming, electrical engineering, and the practical application of the concepts they’ve been learning in the classroom."

“What impressed me most was how the students rose to that challenge. They didn’t just work through a theoretical exercise — they delivered a real, viable solution to a critical step in our assembly process. Their work is now producing tangible results and is being applied directly to the build of advanced combat transmissions that ultimately support our soldiers."

“That level of impact is what makes these partnerships so meaningful. It benefits the students, strengthens industry, and directly contributes to the readiness and capability of our military."

“I am proud of the team and proud of our continued partnership with CMU.”