ORONO -- The University of Maine recently celebrated the grand opening of a new cutting edge robotics and automation training facility that aims to strengthen Maine's manufacturing workforce.

The B.O.T Loft, which stands for build, optimize and train, is housed in the Advanced Manufacturing Center on their flagship campus in Orono.

Maine's manufacturing industry is very diverse with everything from wood products to composite materials and more.

The center was created to help meet the demands of the modern manufacturing sector through hands on training and industry driven education in automation, robotics, and networking.

"A lot of manufacturers are hesitant to put in technology and automation unless they have a workforce that's really trained in it," said Director of the Advanced Manu

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