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

制造业领域对STEM技术人员的需求仍然是国家关注的问题。这也是密西西比河上游农村地区的一个特定的劳动力问题。研究估计，由于缺乏熟练的就业准备工人，2015年至2025年期间美国创造的350万个制造业工作岗位中，超过一半将空缺。在明尼苏达州的农村地区，制造业就业岗位占总劳动力的15%以上。然而，这一领域的雇主报告称，制造业领域目前至少66%的空缺职位已经很难填补。该项目旨在增加明尼苏达州、威斯康星州和爱荷华州上密西西比州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一种教育途径来满足当地制造业劳动力的需求，该途径从高中开始，最终获得职业工程证书，并延伸到工程学士学位。该项目的一个主要目标是在雇主、高中、当地大学和地区技术学院之间建立合作伙伴关系，为参与其中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，或者直接转到技术学院或大学课程。这一模式可能提供一种可复制的方法，可以跨学科应用或调整，以适应全国不同的经济。总体项目目标是建立一种可持续和可复制的模式，将：1)增加STEM管道，以满足地区制造商的需求；2)弥合中等和高等教育机构之间的差距；3)增加妇女、美洲原住民和其他在先进制造业中代表性不足的群体。为了实现这些目标和成果，该项目将开发一个枢纽-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枢纽。通过这种方式，每个项目都可以在相关的州/地方法律和地方背景下实现目标。具体的项目目标包括：在每个高中地点与行业合作伙伴一起验证课程；为高中配备计划中的3-D设计、3-D打印、质量测量以及手动和计算机化机器工艺课程；提高对先进制造业就业机会的认识，包括提高妇女和美洲原住民等在该领域代表性不足的群体的学生的认识。大学教师、高中教师和工业专业人员将通过联合专业发展、将在职专业人员融入课堂以及为学生进行有组织的实习来开发和实施课程。该项目还建议特别注重农村背景，因为它寻求加强K-12和中学后教育之间的联系，并增加进入与先进制造业有关的中学后课程的学生人数。该项目由高级技术教育计划资助，该计划专注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优势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.