Expanding the Engineering Technician Pipeline for Industry 4.0

扩大工业 4.0 的工程技术人员队伍

• 批准号: 2055646
• 负责人: Matt Richards
• 金额: $ 39.7万
• 依托单位: Columbus State Community College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-05-01 至 2025-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2055646&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Expanding; Engineering; Technician; Pipeline; Industry

Automation of manufacturing using smart technology has been called the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0. This automation is making major changes to the workplace as manufacturers deploy a host of connected devices to support smart manufacturing. As a result, new educational programs are needed to prepare the skilled technicians who can implement and maintain these new technologies. In central Ohio, employers have expressed a need for highly skilled engineering technicians to support their Industry 4.0 efforts. One such effort is implementation of collaborative robots or cobots, which were developed to interact with workers and other digital devices in a shared workspace. The increased demand for cobots in industry creates a need for raising students’ awareness of technical careers and for developing new skills training opportunities. This project will build on an existing outreach model to help high school students and high school teachers learn about Industry 4.0 technologies through a project-based learning approach. In addition, it will develop collaborative robotics courses, implement a new collaborative robotics lab facility, and create an Industry 4.0 certificate. Overall, the project efforts are expected to increase the number of Industry 4.0-ready technicians.The goal of this project is to increase the number of skilled engineering technicians who can implement and maintain Industry 4.0 technologies. This project will build on existing learning resources for Industry 4.0 and develop new courses for collaborative robotics. To support these changes in the engineering technology course offerings, a new collaborative robotics lab will be established for hands-on training. With input from industry partners, the project will expand opportunities for incumbent workers by developing an Industry 4.0 certificate program. Recruitment efforts will bring high school students and teachers from four schools in the region to the College for three Manufacturing Summer Institutes each year, where students and teachers will learn about Industry 4.0 technologies in two separate tracks. The institutes will help prepare secondary students for technical education programs and help teachers design curricula that include Industry 4.0 technologies. The project will be evaluated through a mixed methods approach, using content analysis and descriptive statistics to assess project deliverables and outcomes. 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.

使用智能技术的制造自动化被称为第四次工业革命或工业4.0。 这种自动化正在对工作场所进行重大改变，因为制造商部署了大量连接设备来支持智能制造。因此，需要新的教育计划来培养能够实施和维护这些新技术的熟练技术人员。在俄亥俄州中部，雇主们表示需要高技能的工程技术人员来支持他们的工业4.0努力。其中一项努力是实现协作机器人或协作机器人，这些机器人被开发用于与共享工作空间中的工人和其他数字设备进行交互。工业中对协作机器人的需求增加，需要提高学生对技术职业的认识，并开发新的技能培训机会。该项目将建立在现有的外展模式基础上，帮助高中学生和高中教师通过基于项目的学习方法学习工业4.0技术。 此外，它将开发协作机器人课程，实施新的协作机器人实验室设施，并创建工业4.0证书。 总体而言，该项目的努力预计将增加工业4.0就绪技术人员的数量。该项目的目标是增加能够实施和维护工业4.0技术的熟练工程技术人员的数量。该项目将建立在现有的工业4.0学习资源的基础上，并为协作机器人开发新的课程。为了支持工程技术课程的这些变化，将建立一个新的协作机器人实验室进行实践培训。在行业合作伙伴的投入下，该项目将通过开发工业4.0证书计划来扩大在职工人的机会。招聘工作将使该地区四所学校的高中学生和教师每年到学院参加三个制造业暑期学院，学生和教师将在两个不同的轨道上学习工业4.0技术。这些研究所将帮助中学生为技术教育课程做好准备，并帮助教师设计包括工业4.0技术在内的课程。将通过混合方法评价该项目，使用内容分析和描述性统计来评估项目交付成果和成果。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。