Broadening Participation in the Automation Technician Workforce

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The demand for technicians who can implement, maintain, and troubleshoot robotics systems is growing as manufacturers adopt new automation technologies in their manufacturing facilities to improve their competitiveness. Broadening participation in this field requires new pathways that engage students from traditionally underrepresented groups in active learning experiences. Miami Dade College provides technical education for a diverse student population, many of whom are first generation and low-income students. In addition, given the regional demographics, there is an opportunity to broaden participation in the automation technician workforce by providing a pathway for students to obtain nationally recognized certifications. This project will develop a new pathway to help students learn fundamental skills and provide an entry point to further technical education in robotics, automation, electrical engineering, electronics engineering, mechanical engineering, programming, and information technologies. A professional development program will provide robotics training for college faculty and high school teachers. The project team will identify the role that hands-on robotics experiences have on increasing recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented groups in technical education. Using best practices based on lessons learned from the project, the project team will develop a workshop on successful strategies to recruit and retain female students in technical education programs.The goal of this project is to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who have the necessary technical skills to enter the automation technician workforce. To achieve this goal, the project team will develop a new robotics certificate program, train high school teachers to teach courses in the certificate program, and recruit students from underrepresented groups to participate in a summer robotics camp. To earn a certificate, students will take four courses including introduction to robotics, algebra, electrical fundamentals, and digital circuits. Two of the courses will be offered for high school students who are dual enrolled. The project team will collaborate with the college’s industrial advisory committee to ensure that these courses align with industry credential requirements. The certificate program will provide students with hands-on training for programming and operating industrial robots. Faculty and subject matter experts will provide training on robotics for college faculty and high school teachers. At the summer camps, high school students will learn soft-skills training such as teamwork, writing reports, giving presentations, and problem-solving. Students will also have the opportunity to receive training on industrial equipment to obtain industry certifications. The project evaluation will assess the impact of the project activities on the enrollment of students from underrepresented groups in the certificate program. 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.