Collaborative Research: Collaborative Learning Environment for Automated Manufacturing System Integration (CLE-ASI)

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)This engineering education research award to Texas Engineering Experiment Station in collaboration with Saint Mary's University will employ researchers in the development of new methods and web-based tools to integrate design of automated manufacturing into the engineering curriculum. Automated manufacturing is highly complex and collaborative, and it requires systems level approaches to solving problems. This work will develop new virtual collaborative learning environments with emphasis on communication and teamwork for engineering students studying automated manufacturing. It will allow students to engage in more realistic collaborative activities with other students and also with working engineers. Input from 100 companies will provide an understanding of current practices, and the results of this research will be of benefit to both engineering students and industry. Advanced automated manufacturing capability is essential to national competitiveness, and effective integration of systems level thinking into the engineering curriculum using this research will better prepare engineering students to work in this area.