Cross-Pollination Skillsets: Growing Mechatronics and Agricultural Collaborations for Producing Skilled Agricultural Technicians

该项目旨在通过提高农业技术人员的劳动力准备程度来服务于国家利益。农业是弗吉尼亚州最主要的经济驱动力。州政府和私营企业目前都在投资水培、精准农业和环境控制农业。该项目与这些倡议直接一致，并将开发一套农业技术课程，教授当今技术人员所需的技能。该项目将满足美国国家科学基金会高级技术教育（ATE）计划的使命，突出来自STEM领域传统服务不足群体的成功STEM劳动力成员，并将两个传统上划分的研究领域合并为一个职业研究证书。具体来说，这一努力旨在将机电一体化学科与农业学科相结合。由于弗吉尼亚社区学院系统中目前没有农业技术项目，该项目将成为那些寻求开发农业技术项目的人的典范。该项目将通过维持BILT（商业和行业领导团队）伙伴关系和利用行业反馈来发展新的农业技术项目，在劳动力发展方面发挥重要作用。该项目将促进对现代机电技能、农业知识和领导技能的理解，以培养满足日益增长的精准农业领域所需的区域劳动力。该项目的目标是开发一种新型的农业技术职业学习证书（CSC），可以在社区大学仅四个学期完成。该项目的范围将涉及现有的教职员工、行业领袖、高中教师以及弗吉尼亚西部社区学院当前和未来的学生。该项目将通过对合作行业的实地考察，以及根据当前BILT领导者的反馈开发新课程，促进对农业技术职业所需的机电一体化和农业技能的理解。新课程将包括垂直增长、自动驾驶汽车和农业领导力。该项目将通过开发目前在VCCS中不存在的新型Ag-Tech CSC来增加该领域的智力。该项目的目标是培养45名毕业生，将在3年内产生330万美元的直接、间接和诱导经济影响，从而使罗阿诺克当地经济受益。每年将通过学生、教师和行业反馈对项目进行两次评估。年度评估活动将分析参与者的数量，保留和对项目的满意度，以确定未来的方向，如果反馈表明需要更改。该项目的进展和结果将通过ATE Central在学院内部与HI-TEC（高影响力技术交流会议）的参与者传播，并可能在同行评审的期刊上传播，例如工程技术杂志（JET）。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 advancing workforce readiness of agricultural technicians. Agriculture is a top economic driver in Virginia. Both the state government and private industry are currently investing in industries focused on hydroponics, precision-agriculture, and controlled-environmental agriculture. This project directly aligns with these initiatives and will develop an agriculture-technology (Ag-Tech) curriculum that teaches skillsets needed by today’s technicians. The project will meet the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program mission by highlighting successful members of the STEM workforce from traditionally underserved groups in STEM and merging two traditionally divided areas of study into one career studies certificate. Specifically, this effort seeks to blend the mechatronics discipline with agriculture disciplines. As no Ag-Tech program currently exists within the Virginia Community College system, the project will serve as a model for those seeking to develop one. The project will play an important role in workforce development by maintaining BILT (Business & Industry Leadership Team) partnerships and using industry feedback to grow the novel Ag-Tech program. The project will advance the understanding of modern mechatronics skills, agricultural knowledge, and leadership skills to grow a regional workforce needed to meet the growing field of precision-agriculture. The goal of this project is to develop a novel Ag-Tech career studies certificate (CSC) that can be completed at the community college in just four semesters. The scope of the project will involve current faculty and staff, industry leaders, high school instructors, and current and future Virginia Western Community College students. The project will advance understanding of mechatronics and agricultural skills needed in an Ag-Tech career through field trips to partnering industries and development of new courses through feedback from current BILT leaders. New courses will include vertical growing, autonomous vehicles, and agricultural leadership. This project will add to the field intellectually through development of a novel Ag-Tech CSC that currently does not exist in the VCCS. With the goal of producing 45 graduates, the project will benefit the local economy of Roanoke by generating $3.3 million in direct, indirect, and induced economic impact over 3 years. Evaluation of the project will be performed twice a year through student, faculty, and industry feedback. Annual evaluation activities will analyze number of participants, retention, and satisfaction with the project to determine future direction if feedback indicates changes are needed. The progress and results of the project will be disseminated through ATE Central, internally in the college, with participants at HI-TEC (High Impact Technology Exchange Conference), and potentially in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Engineering Technology (JET). 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.