Developing PLC and Robotic Automation Technician Training for Service Industries

该项目旨在通过解决服务行业中具有维护可编程逻辑控制器（plc）和机器人技能的技术人员短缺的问题，为国家利益服务。Vaughn航空技术学院的项目提供了PLC和机器人自动化（PRA）技术员证书课程，以解决大纽约市（NYC）地区服务行业的短缺问题。作为一所西班牙裔服务机构，沃恩学院接纳了来自低收入家庭和第一代大学生家庭的学生，以及来自未被充分代表的种族和族裔群体的学生。为期一年的证书课程减少了那些想要接受教育以提高他们向上流动的学生的经济和时间承诺。提供这种额外的途径不仅满足了服务行业的需求，而且增加了PRA技术人员的多样性。该项目的目标是创建一个为期一年的24学分课程，为PRA技术人员提供他们在服务行业就业所需的技能。为了确保该项目的毕业生具备所需的资格，该项目(a)与商业和行业领导团队合作，确定服务行业的需求，并制定满足这些需求的课程；(b)支持教员取得证书；(c)使用新开发的信息材料招收高中学生和在职工人；(d)通过与沃恩现有的项目合作，从技术人员队伍中代表性不足的群体（包括妇女和种族和少数民族）中招募学生，增加PRA技术人员队伍的多样性。此外，通过ATE中央、区域和国家会议分享对服务业技术教育的理解的进展。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。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by addressing the shortage of technicians with the skills to maintain the programable logic controllers (PLCs) and robots in the service industries. The project at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology provides a PLC and Robotic Automation (PRA) Technician certificate program to address this shortage in the service industries in the greater New York City (NYC) area. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution, Vaughn has embraced students from low-income and first-generation college families, as well as from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. The one-year certificate program reduces the financial and time commitments for students who want to pursue education to improve their upward mobility. Providing this additional pathway not only meets the needs of service industries but also increases diversity in PRA technicians. The goal of the project is to create a one-year 24-credit program to provide PRA technicians with the skills they need for employment in service industries. To ensure graduates of the program have the desired qualifications, the project (a) collaborates with its Business and Industry Leadership Team to determine the service industry needs and develop curriculum to meet them; (b) supports faculty to obtain certifications; (c) recruits both high-school students and incumbent workers using newly developed informational materials; and (d) increases diversity in the PRA technician workforce by partnering with Vaughn’s existing programs to recruit students from groups underrepresented in the technician workforce including women and racial and ethnic minorities. Additionally, advancements in the understanding of technical education for service industries are shared through ATE Central and at regional and national conferences. 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.