No matter who you are—student, educator or industry practitioner—if you're looking for material handling-related educational resources, a good place to start is a 53-year-old organization called the College-Industry Council on Material Handling Education.

The group, called CICMHE for short, is made up of educators, material handling equipment manufacturers, distributors, users and consultants, among others. Its goal: to prepare and provide information and teaching aids for use in education and training. The council also sponsors educational seminars and training courses.

In addition to its courses, CICMHE offers a variety of online educational resources for educators, students and industry practitioners. These include material handling case studies for classroom use; a multi-media bank that contains images of material handling equipment, systems and interfaces; lecture resources and classroom modules on a variety of topics; a bibliography on material handling and logistics textbooks; and links to other sites developed by educators.

CICMHE's other programs include a "teachers institute" held during the summer months of odd-numbered years for college faculty; a research colloquium organized in conjunction with the National Science Foundation and with manufacturers, which is held in even-numbered years; and a design competition for students, cosponsored by the Material Handling Institute.

Though it's technically an independent organization, CICMHE has close ties with the Material Handling Industry of America and the Material Handling Institute. Its online materials can be found through the MHIA Web site at www.mhia.org.