CAREER: Understanding and Supporting the Acquisition of Manufacturing Automation System Integration Skills

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The principal goals of this project are to: (1) understand how automated manufacturing system integration expertise develops; (2) develop a web-based system - called the System Integration Problem-Solving Environment (SIPSE) - that can be used both to monitor the development of system integration skills and to teach them; (3) develop a pedagogy for teaching system integration concepts and skills that can be used as a basis for developing curricula and materials for education in system integration and other similar domains; and (4) develop a curriculum for a undergraduate-level course on Automated Manufacturing System Integration. The proposed effort will build upon existing cognitive skills acquisition research in investigating how expert engineers develop automated manufacturing system integration skills and how to help novices develop these skills more efficiently. The project will integrate research and education by (1) involving graduate and undergraduate students in data collection and analysis, programming, interface design, and graphics design tasks; (2) inviting manufacturing automation students to participate in evaluating SIPSE; (3) adding an instructional module to SIPSE; (4) developing and evaluating a syllabus and curriculum materials for a new course on manufacturing automation system integration; and (5) presenting research results and investigating opportunities to make SIPSE available in high school and informal education settings. It will broaden participation of underrepresented groups by involving students and faculty from minority and/or rurally located institutions in using and evaluating the results of the proposed research. It will enhance the research infrastructure in the area of manufacturing automation by making SIPSE available over the Internet for use by researchers. Research results will be broadly disseminated in academic journals and professional conferences, on the Web, and by making presentations to high schools and in informal education settings, such as children's museums. Direct beneficiaries of this effort will include automated manufacturing system end users, system integrators, and automation product manufacturers. The Division of Engineering Education & Centers (ENG/EEC) has agreed to co-fund this project.