The revolution caused by the advancement of technology, globalization and internet-enabled manufacturing is rapidly changing the manufacturing industry and requires engineers with different and more diverse knowledge than provided by traditionally-based curricula. In order to fill the emerging gap in engineering education we, educators, have to start thinking about preparing students for the future. This paper describes our efforts to address the 21 st century workforce challenges and opportunities. We present a novel multidisciplinary education approach through a case study example from a recently implemented course. This course was part of a larger institution-wide industry-university partnership to address the education gap in industrial and manufacturing engineering programs, beginning with the Connected Enterprise Concepts (CECs). The program started with developing a multi-faceted partnership with local companies and leaders in the manufacturing industry, and cross-disciplinary collaboration between Faculty members from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). We present the framework within which this course, the first of its kind, was initiated, designed and implemented. We will also provide the initial results of students' survey and propose a way to address the challenges.