A collaboration between Elizabethtown College and a local Harrisburg startup is seeking a solution to a smart manufacturing problem and providing two Etown Data Science majors with invaluable real-world learning.

The independent student research and collaboration with Etown faculty mentors, is part of the Summer Scholarship, Creative Arts and Research Projects (SCARP) program.

Learn more about SCARP.

Title of Research
DataScope: Predictive Diagnosis in IIoT-enabled Smart Manufacturing

Student Researchers
Adam Geltz ‘23 – Data Science
Reilly Sollenberger ‘24 – Data Science

Faculty Mentor
Peilong Li, Assistant Professor of Computer Science

What are you researching?

Adam: This is a collaborative project between Elizabethtown College and CPNet LLC where we helped apply predictive modeling with the help of CPNet’s domain knowledge to one of CPNet’s client’s IIoT manufacturing problems.

Reilly: Essentially, we are attempting to use machine learning to predict required maintenance on certain machines.

Professor Li: With the dataset and domain knowledge provided to us from CPNet, we sought to develop a predictive maintenance model based on machine learning and deep learning. The ultimate goal of the project is to provide value-adds to the client by rendering actionable knowledge such as predicting the remaining useful life of the equipment and detecting disruptive manufacturing incidents in a proactive manner.

Why did you choose this topic?

Adam: It was a problem given to us by CPNet after our advisor Dr. Li was in contact with them looking for a potential SCARP project.

What is the most interesting aspect of this research?

Adam: This was my first dive into the real work in the Data Science domain, unlike problems in class where you know there will be answers and a way to arrive at those answers. These problems may or may not have a solution, and you have to figure out the way to arrive at that answer.

Reilly: It is interesting to work on a real-world problem, that there is currently no solution for.

How have your faculty mentors helped you throughout this experience?

Adam: My mentor Dr. Li has been great at guiding us along through this experience. My mentors at CPNet have also been great at providing help when needed.

Reilly: All of our mentors have guided us through the project, providing ideas, and helping us to better understand the background of the problem.

Hear from the Faculty Mentor – Peilong Li

“Both Adam and Reilly have shown strong motivation to achieve the weekly research goals. They have spent tons of hours out of the project time on reading and learning additional data science skills. 

“SCARP provides the faculty and students a perfect venue for exchanging their common research interests and helps students get ready for their academic career path earlier in their college career. The most rewarding moment is seeing the students’ research work published and presented to the public. It’s unforgettable seeing their confident smiles when presenting in front of a group of scholars.”