AMP It Up! Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships: Education and Industry Working Together to Develop Highly-Skilled 21st Century Technicians

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The Consortium for the Alabama Regional Center for Automotive Manufacturing (CARCAM), a regional NSF ATE Center led by Gadsden State Community College, is a collaboration of eleven community colleges in Alabama working with industry and state government to focus on advanced manufacturing in the automotive-related industry. Together with the industry, CARCAM has developed courses and an Associate's degree in automotive technology and graduated students needed by the industry. Professional development is offered to incumbent workers and faculty. Students in the program have a high rate of getting scholarships from Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association. The new degree programs address new and emerging areas of clean energy, lean manufacturing, quality control, safety robotics and workplace ethics of concern to the automotive industry. As aerospace and aviation companies are moving into Alabama, new courses and programs related to automotive manufacturing are being developed. New emphases include the development of new career pathways, engaging the industry liaison with the Alabama Department of Education, serving as a hub for promising practices, leading expansion into new areas of employer needs, providing professional development for faculty and teachers, and broadening participation to minorities, women and veterans. The goals for CARCAM are to implement a Curriculum Gap Analysis Model to update curriculum that reflects regional industry needs, provide professional development for faculty and teachers, to educate technicians that are highly sought after by industry and to create networks that are valued by state agencies and professional organizations in Alabama and neighboring states. The evaluation concentrates on providing evidence of the extent to which these goals are achieved. CARCAM is successfully developing a consortium of collaborating community colleges that works with the automotive industry and the State agencies to contribute to economic development in Alabama and neighboring states.