Innovations in Advanced Machining Technician Education

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A critical shortage in skilled machining technicians exists across the nation, including in Utah's Bear River region. Factors that contribute to this shortage include retirements, low unemployment rates, and the changing skills that workers need because of innovation in the manufacturing sector. This project aims to increase the quality, capacity, and number of the next generation of skilled machinists in the Bear River Region. To achieve this goal, the project will design a new streamlined Machining Technology certificate aligned to industry needs for more Computer Numerical Control (CNC) experience. CNC uses computers and software to control machines, such as milling machines, lathes, and cutters. It is a technology that is increasingly important in manufacturing. The new Machining Technology certificate will be co-developed with industry partners. It will focus on engaging and supporting students through real world, problem-based machining projects. The project intends to acquire new equipment and to provide additional faculty training to prepare new workers from high school for the advanced manufacturing workforce, as well as to upskill local incumbent machinists. In this way, it will contribute to the national need for a highly skilled technological workforce for advanced manufacturing.The project will align the Machining Technology program with local industry needs by including certification in innovative advanced manufacturing technologies, such as 5-axis CNC machines, programmable Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM), and robotics. By working with area high schools, the project intends to serve as a model for how applied technical colleges and secondary schools can collaborate to strengthen awareness of high-paying careers in advanced manufacturing, as well as how the relevant stackable credentials can support a pathway towards college. The project will disseminate newly designed industry courses, recruitment strategies, and outcomes at local and regional meetings, such as the Utah System of Technical Colleges Presidents meeting, and at national meetings, including the Advanced Technological Education principal investigator meeting. 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.