Establishing a Rural Advanced Manufacturing Education Hub in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

制造业对STEM技术人员的需求仍然是一个全国性的问题。对于密西西比河上游的农村地区来说，这也是一个特殊的劳动力问题。研究估计，由于缺乏熟练的就业工人，2015年至2025年期间美国创造的350万个制造业岗位中，有一半以上将无人填补。在明尼苏达州的农村地区，制造业岗位占总劳动力的15%以上。然而，该领域的雇主报告称，目前制造业领域至少66%的空缺职位已经难以填补。该项目旨在增加明尼苏达州、威斯康辛州和爱荷华州密西西比上游农村地区先进制造业的就业机会。为此，该项目旨在通过提供从高中开始的教育途径来满足当地制造业劳动力的需求，从而获得职业工程证书，并扩展到工程学士学位。该项目的一个关键目标是在雇主、高中、当地大学和地区技术学院之间建立伙伴关系，为参与的高中生提供免费的大学教育。这些高中毕业生将能够立即就业，或直接转入技术学院或大学课程。这种模式可能提供一种可复制的方法，可以跨学科应用或调整，以适应全国各地的不同经济。整个项目的目标是建立一个可持续和可复制的模式，该模式将：1)增加STEM管道以满足区域制造商的需求；2)弥合中等和高等教育机构之间的差距；3)增加妇女、印第安人和其他在先进制造业中代表性不足的群体的参与。为了实现这些目标和成果，该项目将开发一个中心节点结构，该项目将作为明尼苏达州、威斯康星州和爱荷华州高中节点的中心。这样，每个项目都可以在相关的州/地方法律和当地环境下实现目标。具体的项目目标包括：与每个高中的行业合作伙伴验证课程；为高中提供三维设计、三维打印、质量测量、手工和计算机化机器工艺等计划课程；扩大对先进制造业就业机会的认识，包括来自该行业代表性不足群体的学生的认识，如妇女和印第安人。大学教师、高中教师和工业专业人员将通过联合专业发展、将工作专业人员纳入课堂以及为学生提供结构化实习来开发和实施课程。该项目还建议特别关注农村环境，因为它寻求加强K-12和高等教育之间的联系，并增加进入与先进制造业相关的高等教育途径的学生人数。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。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The need for STEM technicians in manufacturing fields continues to be a national concern. It is also a specific workforce concern for the upper Mississippi river basin, a rural area. Studies estimate that, due to a lack of skilled employment-ready workers, more than half of the 3.5 million manufacturing jobs created in the US between 2015 and 2025 will go unfilled. In rural areas in Minnesota, manufacturing jobs account for more than 15% of the total workforce. However, employers in this area report that at least 66% of current vacant positions in manufacturing fields are already difficult to fill. This project seeks to increase employment opportunities in advanced manufacturing across the Upper Mississippi region of rural Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. To this end, the project aims to meet local manufacturing workforce needs by providing an educational pathway that starts in high school, leads to a vocational engineering certificate, and extends to an engineering BS degree. A key goal of the project is to build partnerships between employers, high schools, local universities, and regional technical colleges to provide no-cost college instruction for participating high school students. These high school graduates will be able to pursue immediate employment, or to directly transfer into a technical college or university program. This model may provide a replicable approach that can be applied or adapted across disciplines to fit diverse economies across the nation.The overall project goal is to establish a sustainable and replicable model that will: 1) increase the STEM pipeline to meet needs of regional manufacturers; 2) bridge the gap between secondary and post-secondary institutions of higher education; and 3) increase inclusion of women, Native Americans, and other groups that are underrepresented in advanced manufacturing. To achieve these goals and outcomes, the project will develop a hub-node structure, with the project serving as hub for nodes at high schools in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. In this way, each project can achieve the goals within relevant state/local laws and the local context. Specific project objectives include: validating curricula with industry partners at each high school site; equipping high schools for the planned courses in 3-D design, 3-D printing, quality measurement, and manual and computerized machine processes; expanding awareness of career opportunities in advanced manufacturing, including the awareness of students from groups that are underrepresented in this sector, such as women and Native Americans. College faculty, high school teachers, and industrial professionals will develop and implement the curricula through joint professional development, integration of working professionals into the classroom, and structured internships for students. This project also proposes to focus specifically on the rural context as it seeks to strengthen links between K-12 and post-secondary education and increase the number of students matriculating to post-secondary pathways related to advanced manufacturing. 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.