Technician Training for Industry 4.0 Technologies

随着工业4.0先进制造技术的实施将制造商带入数字时代，制造业正处于变革之中。这些新技术包括自动化、计算和通信方面的最新进展。制造商需要熟练的技术人员和先进的操作员来构建，实施，排除故障，维护和修改使用这些技术的制造系统。学生将学习基于当地工业劳动力需求的工业4.0能力。该项目将重点关注农业、食品和饮料加工以及石油和天然气制造行业。德克萨斯农工大学将与克洛维斯社区学院和孤星学院合作开发和评估新课程，为学生提供有关工业4.0概念的指导和实践学习经验。学生将有机会获得工业自动化证书。该项目将提供专业发展研讨会，培训社区大学教师和高中教师有关工业4.0技术。项目团队将与当地高中合作，为高中学生开设双注册课程，这些课程可以在社区大学校园、高中或在线学习。这个项目的目标是帮助学生学习必要的技能，在制造技术人员队伍中取得成功。该项目将：(1)通过创建工业4.0概念的课程内容，为当地工业劳动力需求做好准备；(2)通过证书课程丰富在职工人的技能；(3)通过与学区合作，为中学教师提供讲习班，为即将入学的学生创造渠道；(4)举办专业发展研讨会，向社区大学的教师传播项目成果。主题专家将向项目团队提供关于指导材料的技术准确性和相关性的反馈。为了使教学资源有限的学习者更容易获得实践学习经验，将开发在线访问自动化系统和虚拟/远程学习环境并进行试点测试。课程和在线学习环境对学生学习的影响将通过学生调查和学习评估来评估。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。

Manufacturing is in the midst of change as Industry 4.0 advanced manufacturing technologies are being implemented to bring manufacturers into the digital age. These new technologies include recent advances in automation, computing, and communications. Manufacturers need skilled technicians and advanced operators to build, implement, troubleshoot, maintain, and modify manufacturing systems that use these technologies. Students will learn Industry 4.0 competencies that are based on local industry workforce needs. This project will focus on agriculture, food and beverage processing, and oil and gas manufacturing sectors. Texas A&M University will collaborate with Clovis Community College and Lone Star College on the development and evaluation of new curricula that will provide instruction and hands-on learning experiences for students on Industry 4.0 concepts. Students will have the opportunity to earn a certificate in industrial automation. The project will provide professional development workshops to train community college faculty and high school teachers on Industry 4.0 technologies. Working with local high schools, the project team will create dual enrollment courses for high school students that can be taken at the community college campuses, at the high school, or online.The goal of this project is to help students learn the necessary skills to be successful in the manufacturing technician workforce. This project will: (1) prepare new graduates for local industry workforce needs by creating course content for Industry 4.0 concepts; (2) enrich skill sets of incumbent workers through certificate programs; (3) create a pipeline for incoming students by working with school districts and offering workshops for secondary school teachers; and (4) host professional development workshops to disseminate project results to instructors at community colleges. Subject matter experts will provide feedback to the project team about the technical accuracy and relevance of the instructional materials. To make hands-on learning experiences more accessible to learners with limited instructional resources, online access to automated systems and virtual/remote learning environments will be developed and pilot tested. The impact of the courses and the online learning environment on student learning will be evaluated using student surveys and learning assessments. 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.