Improving Advanced Manufacturing Technician Education Using Industry Partnerships

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There is growing demand from industry for technicians with advanced manufacturing skills in the central Virginia region. Building partnerships between academia, industry, non-profits, and economic agencies is an effective approach to improving educational pathways and leveraging local resources to help train students to meet this demand. The project team will work with industry partners to identify the skills that are needed so that students will be successful in the technician workforce. Community colleges rely heavily on adjunct instructors from industry to train students. Courses in advanced manufacturing technician degree programs require adjunct faculty with current and applied knowledge and skills which are continually changing in the rapidly automating manufacturing environment. This project will help industry employees engage in technician education programs as adjunct instructors, providing qualified educators for these programs. Better industry partnerships will help support recruitment and retention of students to produce more advanced manufacturing technicians. Industry employees will serve as adjuncts in the classroom to improve student competencies and outside the classroom to engage secondary and underrepresented students in advanced manufacturing. This project will advance understanding of the effectiveness of industry-academic partnerships in leveraging local resources and growing the advanced manufacturing workforce.The goal of this project is to improve advanced manufacturing technician training by: (1) growing industry partnerships to improve instruction and curriculum content, (2) training industry professionals to serve as faculty in technical education degree programs, and (3) strengthening career pathways for students through partnerships between industry, local economic agencies, and non-profits. This project will organize multiple Collaborative Working Groups for different industry sectors that have representatives from regional advanced manufacturing companies that currently have or will need technicians. These groups will review technical degree programs and make recommendations, participate in student outreach activities, and develop internship opportunities for students. A new online training course will be developed to provide training for industry adjunct faculty on effective teaching practices, the use of instructional technology, and communicating with students. This project will provide opportunities for secondary students to learn about technician careers in advanced manufacturing by bringing students to campus to participate in hands-on learning activities in the lab facilities. The project team will work with an ATE center and an ATE Coordination Network to disseminate project results including presentations and open educational resources. 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.