Bridging the Skills Gap in Smart Manufacturing through a New Technician Education Program

随着智能制造领域的快速发展，将先进技术引入传统制造设施，技术教育必须跟上步伐。这些技术包括智能机器、先进控制系统、工业物联网和云服务。 该项目旨在解决雇主在智能制造中所需的技能与学生从传统技术教育课程中培养的技能之间日益扩大的差距。通过创建新的学术途径，该项目计划增加能够满足主要区域雇主需求的熟练技术人员的数量。该项目将支持专业发展活动，以帮助大学和高中教师了解制造业的新趋势。新课程将侧重于让学生学习在智能制造环境中取得成功所需的技能。该项目也可以为其他想要实施智能制造技术教育计划的大学提供一个模式。该项目的主要目标是创建一个与制造业相适应的智能制造技术教育途径，旨在增加熟练掌握先进技术应用的合格技术人员的供应。将进行工作技能分析，以确定智能制造设施所需的技术技能。根据分析结果，将开发智能制造课程，包括通往应用科学学位和证书的多种途径。这些途径还将包括制造业和信息技术领域在职工人的入境点和快速通道选择。智能制造职业途径计划将旨在招募代表性不足的学生，促进高中生在制造业的职业生涯，并与四年制课程建立转移协议。该项目还将组织年度智能制造峰会，汇集行业从业者，社区大学教师和高中教师，以促进智能制造技术教育最佳实践的传播。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。

As the rapidly developing field of Smart Manufacturing introduces advanced technologies into traditional manufacturing facilities, technical education must keep pace. Such technologies include smart machines, advanced control systems, the industrial internet of things, and cloud services. This project aims to address the growing gap between the skills employers need in Smart Manufacturing and the skills students develop from traditional technical education programs. By creating new academic pathways, this project plans to increase the number of skilled technicians who can meet the demand from key regional employers. The project will support professional development activities to help college and high school instructors understand new trends in manufacturing. The new curriculum will focus on enabling students to learn the skills needed to be successful in a Smart Manufacturing environment. This project may also provide a model for other colleges that want to implement a Smart Manufacturing technical education program.The primary goal of this project is to create a manufacturing industry-aligned technician education pathway in Smart Manufacturing, with the goal of increasing the supply of qualified technicians with proficiency in advanced technology applications. A job skills analysis will be performed to identify the set of technical skills that are needed in Smart Manufacturing facilities. Based on the results of the analysis, a curriculum in Smart Manufacturing will be developed to include multiple pathways leading to Associate of Applied Science degrees and certificates. The pathways will also include entry points and fast track options for incumbent workers in manufacturing and information technology fields. A Smart Manufacturing career pathway initiative will be designed to recruit underrepresented students, promote careers in manufacturing to high school students, and establish transfer agreements with four-year programs. The project will also organize an annual Smart Manufacturing Summit to bring together industry practitioners, community college instructors, and high school instructors to promote dissemination of best practices in technical education for Smart 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.