Planning: Using Emerging Technologies for Increasing Student Enrollment and Learning in Infrastructure and Building Construction Technology at HBCUs

这项HBCU-卓越研究计划拨款将有助于弥合行业和高等教育之间的差距。该项目旨在通过引领建筑产出、收集有关基础设施所需当前和未来就业技能的全面信息以及建立建筑公司，为美国目前改善国家基础设施的努力做出贡献。对HBCU基础设施和建筑建筑技术专业的学生进行适当的培训，掌握工业所需的新兴技术，将1)使就业技能不足的群体获得就业技能，并使他们能够公平地获得个人经济成功；2)确保行业拥有足够和熟练的劳动力，以满足日益增长的建筑服务需求，并在预算范围内按时交付优质项目。这笔为期一年的HBCU-EIR规划拨款将帮助研究团队为为期三年的HBCU-EIR研究项目制定一个完整的提案，该项目旨在利用新兴技术鼓励未被充分代表的少数族裔学生在华中大学攻读高级基础设施和建筑建筑学位，并为学生在基础设施和建筑行业就业做好准备。因此，主要目标是探索和加强与基础设施和建筑建筑业和学术界的合作关系，以了解差距，以及当前和未来对就业技能的需求，以提高计划研究的智力价值。次要目标是创造机会(即新的研讨会)，向K-12学校、社区学院和HBCU本科生项目展示建筑中的新兴技术，以增强这一规划拨款的更广泛影响。此外，该小组将与HBCU建筑技术项目的管理员建立网络，以交流信息、资源和最佳做法(即课程和课程模块)。因此，将成立HBCU基础设施和建筑建设联盟(HBCU-IBCC)，以进一步加强更广泛的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This HBCU-Excellence in Research planning grant will help bridge the gap between industry and higher education. The project aims to contribute to current US efforts to improve national infrastructure by spearheading construction outputs, gathering comprehensive information on the current and future employment skills that are needed from the infrastructure, and building construction firms. Properly training HBCU infrastructure and building construction technology program students with the industrial-needed emerging technologies will 1) equip groups underrepresented with employment skills and enable them to have equitable access to personal economic success, and 2) ensure the industry has sufficient and skilled workforces to meet the growing demand for construction services and deliver quality projects on time and within budget. This one-year HBCU-EiR planning grant will help the research team to develop a full proposal for a three-year HBCU-EiR research project which aims to use emerging technologies to encourage underrepresented minority students to pursue advanced infrastructure and building construction degrees at HUBCs and prepare the students for careers in the infrastructure and building construction industry. Hence, the primary goal is to explore and strengthen the collaborative relationships with the infrastructure and building construction industrial and academic experts to understand the gaps, and current and future needs of employment skills to enhance the intellectual merit of the planned research. The secondary goal is to create opportunities (i.e., new workshops) to expose emerging technologies in construction to K-12 schools, community colleges, and HBCU undergraduate programs to enhance the broader impacts of this planning grant. Moreover, the team will network with the administrators of HBCUs’ construction technology programs to exchange information, resources, and best practices (i.e., curriculum and course modules). As a result, an HBCU Infrastructure and Building Construction Consortium (HBCU-IBCC) will be established to further enhance the broader impacts.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.