Worker 4.0: Preparing Students for Today's Technician Careers

密苏里州立大学西平原分校将开发新的高级制造课程，以解决中等技能工业维护技术人员的劳动力短缺问题。以先进的工业维护、制造和替代能源为重点，课程重新设计将使用可堆叠的课程，并结合基于项目的学习、动手计算机模拟和真实的实验室环境来模拟工业工作场所。与行业合作伙伴的实习和注册学徒机会将为学生的就业做好准备。该项目将包括麻省理工学院比特和原子中心的教育推广部分大奥扎克斯先进技术制造实验室的部分内容，以吸引不同的学生群体并与社区建立联系。总体而言，这些活动将填补工业4.0环境中中等技能工人的空白，该环境包括制造业的计算机化。该项目将满足区域对合格的中等技能高级工业维修和制造技术人员的需求，并增加技术学位的技术证书和应用科学专科招生。Worker 4.0的智力优势包括适应和采用Festo Industry 4.0认证计划(FI4.0CP)，这是一种行业公认的证书，在当前的技术课程中开发了一个新的高级工业维护选项，在工科学士学位中开发了一个新的高级工业维护选项，并开发了一个专注于高级工业维护的证书。这包括开设三门新课程：工业4.0导论、工业控制与故障排除以及可编程逻辑控制器和传感器。在完成美国工学学士学位的高级工业维护选修课或高级工业维护认证后，学生将准备完成FI4.0CP 1级：基础认证考试。此外，经过认证的学生将能够通过可堆叠的FI4.0CP 2级和3级课程和认证继续他们的教育。Worker 4.0的更广泛影响包括在下一波产业转型中传播专门为中等技能技术人员开发的课程材料。该项目由高级技术教育计划资助，该计划侧重于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域的技术人员进行教育。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Missouri State University - West Plains will develop new advanced manufacturing curricula to address the workforce shortage in middle-skill industrial maintenance technicians. With a focus on advanced industrial maintenance, manufacturing, and alternative energy, the curriculum redesign will use stackable courses and a combination of project-based learning, hands-on computer simulations, and real laboratory environments to model the industrial workplace. Internships and registered apprenticeship opportunities with industry partners will build students' workforce readiness. The project will incorporate portions of the Greater Ozarks Center for Advanced Technology Fab Lab, the educational outreach component of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology's Center for Bits and Atoms, to engage a diverse group of students and interface with the community. Collectively, these activities will fill the gap for middle-skilled workers in the Industry 4.0 environment, which encompasses the computerization of manufacturing. The project will meet the regional need for qualified middle-skill advanced industrial maintenance and manufacturing technicians, and increase the enrollment in the technology certificates and associate of applied science in technology degree. The intellectual merit of Worker 4.0 includes adapting and adopting the Festo Industry 4.0 Certification Program (FI4.0CP), an industry recognized credential, into current technology courses, developing a new Advanced Industrial Maintenance Option in the A.A.S. in Technology degree, and developing a certificate that focuses on Advanced Industrial Maintenance. This includes creating three new courses: Introduction to Industry 4.0, Industrial Controls and Troubleshooting, and Programmable Logic Controllers and Sensors. Upon completion of the Advanced Industrial Maintenance Option in the A.A.S. in Technology degree or the Certification in Advanced Industrial Maintenance, the students will be prepared to complete the FI4.0CP Level 1: Fundamentals certification exam. Additionally, certified students will be able to continue their education with stackable FI4.0CP Level 2 and Level 3 courses and certifications. The broader impacts of Worker 4.0 include the dissemination of the curricular materials specifically developed for middle-skilled technicians in the next wave of an industrial transformation.This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.