Technical Education Pathways for Advanced Manufacturing Technology

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Due to rapidly changing technologies that are being adopted in manufacturing facilities and retirements of current technicians, America’s manufacturing industry is facing a critical shortage of skilled technicians. To address this shortage, industries in northern California, Evergreen Valley College, and a Manufacturing U.S.A. Institute (NextFlex) will work together to create industry-aligned education programs, increase student awareness of careers in advanced manufacturing, and recruit students into advanced manufacturing education programs that meet their interests. This partnership will develop multiple education pathways including certificates and an Associate of Science degree in Advanced Manufacturing Technology. The central goal of this project is to increase the supply of technicians who have the right skills in advanced manufacturing to meet regional industry demand. It is expected that lessons learned in this project will result in a set of highly effective practices for regions across the country facing similar challenges. Project partners will use the successful Business Industry Leadership Team model to identify the critical knowledge, skills, and attributes (KSAs) required by advanced manufacturing industry partners. The KSAs will be used to inform the curriculum development process for the technical education programs. Courses will include work-based learning experiences at industry partner facilities. To increase the supply of students in the new programs, an existing high school outreach model, FlexFactor, will be used to engage students, industry partners, and project team members in project-based learning experiences. To evaluate the effectiveness of the project, partners will monitor student outcomes and employer satisfaction. Project partners will also document lessons learned and best practices with the intent of sharing them with the technical education community in the region and the nation through conferences and media releases. 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.