Mobile Additive Manufacturing Platform for 21st Century STEM Workforce Enhancement

用于增强 21 世纪 STEM 劳动力的移动增材制造平台

• 批准号: 1902437
• 负责人: Eric Wooldridge
• 金额: $ 58.83万
• 依托单位: Kentucky Community & Technical College System
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-10-01 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1902437&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Mobile; Additive; Manufacturing; Platform; 21st

Additive manufacturing (3D printing) has become an increasingly common manufacturing production method. As a result, industries in eastern Kentucky and Tennessee have begun to shift their production to additive manufacturing. However, this region has a shortage in the skilled technicians needed to meet the resulting workforce demands. Also, manufacturers and potential workers in rural and underserved areas in this region might benefit from increased awareness of the advantages that additive manufacturing can provide. In this project, Somerset Community College (Kentucky) and Tennessee Technological University will work together to help address these workforce and education needs. Specifically, this project aims to help educate a new generation of qualified employees for the region's manufacturing workforce. To achieve this goal, the project partners will update the curriculum for an existing certificate in additive manufacturing to include advanced concepts and design methods for 3D printing. A mobile equipment platform for additive manufacturing will also be developed. This mobile additive manufacturing platform will enable learning activities in additive manufacturing to be brought to high schools, community colleges, and workplaces across the region. Through these efforts, the project aims to help the regional population and companies to become more familiar with additive manufacturing, and to create a generalizable approach that can be adapted by other rural communities. The project will also provide pathways for more community college students and workers to obtain credentials in additive manufacturing. The overarching goal of the project is to enhance workforce development opportunities in additive manufacturing for high school students, community college students, incumbent workers, and manufacturers in underserved regions of Kentucky and Tennessee. Two courses will be developed to include advancements in powder-based printer and metal printer applications. These courses will be integrated into the existing curriculum for the 3D Printing Technician-Level 1 certificate at the institutions. These courses will cover topics such as improved product topology, metal sintering production, advanced composite materials, and generative design concepts and techniques. Customized curriculum on these topics will also be developed and offered in workshops for high school students and incumbent workers. A mobile additive manufacturing platform will be designed to provide hands-on learning experiences using high-grade industrial materials and state-of-the-art 3D printing equipment. The use of this transportable equipment will enable students and incumbent workers across the region to directly interact with a full range of production techniques and capabilities. The project team will study the effectiveness of this mobile educational delivery method in achieving desired learning objectives and benchmark the results against traditional educational approaches. The project materials, best practices, and results will be shared on the project website, through Advanced Technological Education Centers, and at regional and national venues. 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.

增材制造（3D打印）已经成为一种越来越普遍的制造生产方式。 因此，肯塔基州东部和田纳西州的工业已经开始将生产转向增材制造。然而，该地区缺乏满足由此产生的劳动力需求所需的熟练技术人员。此外，该地区农村和服务不足地区的制造商和潜在工人可能会受益于对增材制造所能提供的优势的认识提高。在这个项目中，萨默塞特社区学院（肯塔基州）和田纳西理工大学将共同努力，以帮助解决这些劳动力和教育需求。具体而言，该项目旨在帮助教育该地区制造业劳动力的新一代合格员工。 为了实现这一目标，项目合作伙伴将更新现有增材制造证书的课程，以包括3D打印的先进概念和设计方法。还将开发用于增材制造的移动的设备平台。这个移动的增材制造平台将使增材制造的学习活动能够带到整个地区的高中、社区大学和工作场所。通过这些努力，该项目旨在帮助该地区的人口和公司更加熟悉增材制造，并创造一种可推广的方法，供其他农村社区采用。该项目还将为更多的社区大学学生和工人提供获得增材制造证书的途径。该项目的总体目标是为肯塔基州和田纳西州服务不足地区的高中生、社区大学生、在职工人和制造商增加增材制造方面的劳动力发展机会。将开发两个课程，包括粉末打印机和金属打印机应用的进步。 这些课程将被整合到现有的3D打印技术人员1级证书课程中。这些课程将涵盖的主题，如改进的产品拓扑结构，金属烧结生产，先进的复合材料，并生成设计概念和技术。还将为高中生和在职工人制定和提供关于这些主题的定制课程。将设计一个移动的增材制造平台，使用高级工业材料和最先进的3D打印设备提供实践学习体验。使用这种可移动设备将使整个地区的学生和在职工人能够直接与全方位的生产技术和能力进行互动。项目小组将研究这种移动的教育提供方法在实现预期学习目标方面的有效性，并将结果与传统教育方法进行比较。项目材料、最佳实践和成果将在项目网站上、通过先进技术教育中心以及在区域和国家场所共享。该项目由先进技术教育计划资助，该计划侧重于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域培养技术人员。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。