More than 300 people attended the latest Wells Fargo Lecture Series to listen to Greg Scheu, president of the Americas region of ABB, to discuss his company’s role in what he calls “Internet of Things,” or, “Industry 4.0.”

The Internet of Things is a term used to describe the interconnectivity of everything. Vehicles, machines, utilities and other equipment have electronics within that to communicate and exchange data with each other. 

Scheu’s talk, which took place in the Nelson Auditorium, heavily emphasized energy efficiency and sustainability. 

“Industry 4.0 is the next big change, and it is here,” Scheu said. “It is where machines can talk to machines, the use of analytics and the use of the cloud.”

This exchange of data allows people to monitor the live usage and status of a machine, even for equipment in remote areas like oil rigs or cruise ships. The consumer version of the Internet of Things would include using smart thermostats to monitor and control them remotely.

Other developments of the Internet of Things include the smart grid, which uses a network of smart meters and smart appliances to monitor and control the flow of electricity in a more efficient manner.

ABB is a robotics, automation and power technology company headquartered in Switzerland with about 30,000 employees in North America and 140,000 worldwide. 

It has recently constructed the Smart Grid Center of Excellence on Centennial Campus in a partnership with NC State, which currently employs 500 employees. ABB has also worked with NC State on developing fast chargers for electric cars.

“We started with NC State in 1991 as the first corporate tenant on Centennial campus,” Scheu said. “We knew the value of the connection with R&D here. We want to be right in the middle of what’s coming next, with young students thinking of how to change the world.”

Scheu said his company helped start center for clean technology in the Triangle. The company also works to involve undergraduate and graduate students in training and research programs through the PAL program, and also hires many NC State graduates. 

Jack Clayton, regional president of Piedmont East at Wells Fargo and a member of the board of advisors for the Poole College of Management, helped put together the Wells Fargo Lecture series featuring Greg Scheu from ABB. According to Clayton, Wells Fargo has been doing the lecture series with NC State for the past seven years.

“We really felt that bringing together more creative ideas from CEOs to students would have a good impact and broaden their perspectives,” Clayton said. “It also lets the CEO know about NC State and the quality of its students, allowing them to do more recruiting here.”

Students from all over campus attended the event, including the dean of the College of Engineering, Louis Martin-Vega.

The event was also heavily attended by students from the Poole College of Management, including Graham Baartmans, a sophomore studying accounting, who said he’d heard of these lectures and wanted to finally check one out. 

“I thought the talk was really interesting,” Baartmans said. “Since it was my first time being out I didn’t know what to expect. It was really informative even for someone with no engineering background.” 

After the event, Scheu held a brief Q&A session with the audience and then attended a reception with students and staff from Poole.

There are a total of six Wells Fargo Lecture Series a year. The next lecture will take place in the Nelson Auditorium on March 2 and will feature Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP, a multinational software company headquartered in Germany.