Flexible Technology Education to Upskill/Reskill for a Vacuum Technician Career

该项目旨在通过改进技术人员教育计划中的真空技术课程，为国家利益服务。真空技术是一种关键的使能技术，它结合了数学，化学和物理中的复杂概念，以支持先进的制造和研究。真空系统从封闭环境中除去空气和水蒸汽，以产生比大气压力低许多数量级的压力条件。尽管真空技术在半导体制造和空间技术与研究等领域发挥着不可或缺的作用，但其重要性在很大程度上未被公众认识到。制造和研究机构使用昂贵的真空系统，价值数千万美元的设备，期望系统全天候运行。由于真空系统故障导致的意外停机是非常昂贵的。组织依靠拥有知识和技能的技术人员来维护和修理这些系统。技术人员负责快速排除故障并正确诊断真空系统性能问题，以最大限度地减少系统运行中断，并保持受系统影响的过程和产品的完整性。该项目将加强真空技术课程，并为学生，特别是在职工人提供有针对性的支持服务，从而激励他们坚持学习这个项目，以发展利用真空系统的组织所重视的知识和技能。该项目提出了方案发展和改进以及课程和教育材料发展领域的活动组合。学科重点是真空技术，这是一个对半导体制造、纳米技术、先进制造和研究至关重要的研究领域。该项目的目标是：1)将跨学科的学习机会纳入课程，更好地为技术人员未来的工作做好准备；2)提供更短的模块长度和更多的入口点，并提供更灵活的模块完成顺序；3)实施学生支持策略，提高学生的毅力和完成证书的能力，并成功过渡到劳动力市场，特别是对非传统年龄的学生、真空技术领域代表性不足的个人、退伍军人和失业工人。该项目将提高对工业4.0时代真空技术人员所需的跨学科STEM能力的认识和理解。提供新的模块化课程是一种策略，通过在更适合非传统年龄学习者的时间和持续时间开放课程，解决进入真空技术的一些障碍。个人将能够通过虚拟或面对面提供的异步和同步课程的组合来访问课程。该项目将有助于我们理解如何为技术人员提供跨学科STEM技能的足够指导，使他们能够过渡到今天的劳动力。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 improving curricula that address vacuum technology in a technician education program. Vacuum technology is a critical enabling technology that combines complex concepts in mathematics, chemistry and physics in support of advanced manufacturing and research. Vacuum systems remove air and water vapor from an enclosed environment to create a pressure condition many orders of magnitude less than atmospheric pressure. Although vacuum technology plays an integral role in fields such as semiconductor manufacturing and space technology and research, its significance is largely unrecognized by the public. Manufacturing and research organizations utilize expensive vacuum systems, equipment worth tens of millions of dollars, with expectations that the systems function around the clock. Unanticipated downtime due to a vacuum system malfunction is extremely costly. Organizations rely on technicians who possess the knowledge and skills to maintain and repair these systems. Technicians are responsible for quickly troubleshooting and correctly diagnosing issues with the vacuum system performance in order to minimize disruptions in system operation as well as preserve the integrity of the process and product affected by the system. This project will enhance the curricula in vacuum technology and create targeted support services to benefit students, especially incumbent workers, so they are motivated to persist in this program of study to develop the knowledge and skills valued by organizations that utilize vacuum systems. This project proposes a combination of activities in the areas of program development and improvement and curriculum and educational materials development. The disciplinary focus is vacuum technology, an area of study vital to semiconductor fabrication, nanotechnology, advanced manufacturing and research. The objectives of the project are to: 1) Incorporate cross-disciplinary learning opportunities into the curriculum to better prepare technicians for the future of work; 2) Offer shorter length modules with more entry points and provide more flexibility in the sequence of module completion; and 3) Implement student support strategies that increase student persistence and completion of a credential and successful transition to the workforce, particularly for nontraditional-aged students, individuals underrepresented in vacuum technologies, veterans, and dislocated workers. The project will advance knowledge and understanding of the cross-disciplinary STEM competencies required for vacuum technicians in the era of Industry 4.0. Offering the new modularized courses is a strategy to address some of the barriers to entering vacuum technology by opening up access to courses at times and durations better suited for nontraditional-aged learners. Individuals will be able to access courses through a combination of asynchronous and synchronous courses that can be offered virtually or face-to-face. The project will contribute to our understanding of how to provide technicians with just-enough instruction in cross-disciplinary STEM skills to allow them to transition into today’s workforce. 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.