Tec de Monterrey and MIT turn the classroom into a factory

Manufacture a product, program the robots that make it, automate processes, and collect data to identify areas for improvement. This can all happen while you’re a student.

Tecnológico de Monterrey and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are jointly developing FrED Factory, an educational model that aims to transform advanced manufacturing engineering programs with learning factories.

Their proposal is to bring a manufacturing environment into the classroom so that, rather than learning just by doing exercises or simulations, students are able to manufacture real products, operate production lines, solve problems, and work with data collected during those processes.

“We’ve created an ecosystem that allows students to design, build, manufacture, and incorporate real-world manufacturing systems while developing the skills and competencies the industry requires,” explained Erick Guadalupe Ramírez, Director of the Tec’s Mechatronics Engineering program.

Over four hundred and sixty Tec students have taken part in the initiative, fifteen of whom were research interns and two of whom were accepted in graduate programs at MIT.

What is FrED Factory?

The project kicked off with FrED (an acronym that stands for Fiber Extrusion Device), a device developed at MIT.

FrEd is a scale model of an industrial extruder that enables users to work with advanced manufacturing principles and technologies.

These include automation, robotics, control systems, artificial intelligence, computer vision, data analysis, and digital twins.

But FrED Factory goes beyond simply using a machine; the model aims to replicate the operation of a manufacturing system in which different technologies, processes, and individuals need to collaborate seamlessly.

“Most traditional labs teach one technology at a time: a robot, a PLC, a sensor, or a conveyor belt. FrED Factory completely changes that philosophy,” explained Pedro Ponce, a professor at Tec de Monterrey.

It allows students to observe how a decision made at one stage of the process can alter the behavior of the entire system.

The idea, Ponce explains, can be summed up in one sentence: “The factory lives inside the classroom.”

From designing a part to improving its production

One of the unique features of the model is that it enables students to participate in the entire manufacturing cycle.

They design parts, build devices, program robots, automate processes, collect data, analyze system performance, and make modifications to improve results.

For example, in the FrED Factory Challenge students have developed production lines to assemble FrED devices.

The project evolved to include lines comprising several manufacturing cells, industrial and collaborative robots, sensors, actuators, PLCs, and HMI systems.

This experience makes it possible to approach product development from a perspective removed from a traditional exercise.

“Usually, in automation courses, they would always tell you, ‘That’s all: just plug it in and let it run’. Here, the entire process from manufacturing to assembly is contemplated,” explained Ramírez Cedillo.

Students must also deal with situations typical of an industrial process: noisy sensors, malfunctioning motors, parts that don’t arrive on time, systems that require calibration, or unreliable data.

Therefore, in addition to applying technical knowledge, they need to make decisions and find solutions to real-world problems.

Artificial intelligence and manufacturing in a single profile

The training program also aims to address the changes the industry is undergoing.

FrED Factory allows fields like artificial intelligence, data science, and cyber-physical systems to be integrated with traditional engineering and manufacturing expertise.

Ramírez Cedillo explains this combination as the need to train “bilingual” engineers: those capable of understanding both the physical and digital worlds.

“We want engineers to be bilingual. What do we mean by ‘bilingual’? Physical aspects, along with AI, computer science, data science, and data analytics,” he explained.

In addition to these tools, the projects aim to develop skills like leadership, communication, teamwork, creativity, systems thinking, and strategic thinking.

Pedro Ponce is of the opinion that working with real-world processes also helps develop engineering judgment and adaptability: skills that are difficult to acquire through theoretical classes or simulations alone.

“The best way to learn is by getting your feet wet and making mistakes. FrED Factory is the ideal place to experiment and learn from your mistakes.” — Naomi Nájera

Each new generation picks up where the previous one left off

Another feature of FrED Factory is that projects do not necessarily end at the same time as a semester.

The projects developed by students can be documented, validated, and incorporated into the platform so that future generations may continue to build on them.

Consequently, each generation inherits a factory that is more advanced than the previous one, while more experienced students can also mentor those who are just starting out.

This approach was expanded with FRAME (Factory-based Research and Mentoring in Engineering), an initiative created to introduce students to research projects as early as their first semesters.

Participants review the literature, identify lines of research, develop prototypes, and present their progress while receiving guidance from more experienced students and faculty members.

Thus, the knowledge generated does not start from scratch with each group but can be passed down and evolve across generations.

From the Tec’s FrED Factory to research at MIT

The joint venture has also opened up opportunities for Tec students to conduct research directly at MIT.

One of those students was Naomi Nájera, a mechatronics engineering student who began her involvement with FrED Factory during her fifth semester.

She was first selected as Project Manager for the PLC division, where she coordinated students in the installation of electrical cabinets in the laboratory.

Later, she participated in research projects and the FrED Factory Challenge.

In 2025, she was one of eight students selected for a research internship at MIT, where she worked during the August–December semester. Until then, she was the first and only woman selected for the program.

During her stay, she contributed to research related to FrED Factory and to papers that were later published at the Conference on Learning Factories (CLF) 2026 and by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

Naomi explains that one of the key lessons she learned was that the skills needed to practice engineering go beyond technical knowledge.

“An engineer isn’t just someone who works in plants, on assembly lines or in factories, but a well-rounded person who knows how to solve problems creatively, adapt to new environments, and work with multidisciplinary teams,” she said.

Over four hundred and sixty students involved

The number of participants and the locations where FrED Factory operates has grown since the joint venture began.

The Tec contributes as a co-developer of the initiative and operates FrED Factory on its campuses in Monterrey and Mexico City.

At the second FrED Summit, it was announced that the model had begun its expansion to the Saltillo campus, where work is under way to adapt laboratories to implement a learning factory and make this experience available to students starting their first year.

The FrED vision calls for further expansion of the model and the establishment of new alliances between universities.

Technologies that could be incorporated are agent-based artificial intelligence, language models, cognitive digital twins, virtual and augmented reality, the Industrial Internet of Things, and explainable artificial intelligence systems.

From learning how a factory works to building one

For students, the difference can be summed up as a shift from observing the manufacturing process to participating directly in it.

1. They build.
2. They program.
3. They test.
4. They make mistakes.
5. They analyze outcomes.
6. They try again.

Naomi believes that this very possibility is one of the reasons to get involved in projects like FrED Factory as soon as the first semesters.

“The best way to learn is by getting your feet wet and making mistakes. “FrED Factory is the ideal place to try things out and learn from your mistakes,” she said.

And what starts as a project in a lab can end up becoming a research study, a scientific publication, or even a stay at MIT.

Naomi says that the first step is still the easiest. “Many people think that going to MIT is a dream that’s too far off or too difficult to achieve,” she said.

Her advice to newbies is to give it a try.

“No dream is too big and no dreamer too small,” she concluded.

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