Advanced Manufacturing and Automation Flexible Delivery

内华达州西部的先进制造业有巨大的增长，未来五年该地区的生产技术人员职业预计将以每年15%的速度增长。随着特斯拉和松下公司等大型制造商进入里诺地区，对制造技术人员的需求已成为确保该行业成功和该地区经济发展目标的主要问题。特拉基梅多斯社区学院（TMCC）也发现，对于那些工作安排或家庭位置影响了他们参加传统校园课程的学生来说，访问在线内容是一个主要障碍。工作或住在离校园较远的地方。为了培养该地区持续繁荣所需的劳动力，TMCC将创建易于使用、灵活的课程，希望能够吸引在职工人、低技能工人和非传统时间表的工人。这种方法可以使无法参加传统课程的学生参加完成课程所需的课程。反过来，这些课程有可能为这些学生提供就业技能，获得可堆叠的学位课程，从而完成以生产技术员为重点的应用科学副学士学位，以及向上流动。该项目的目标是：1)提供受过良好教育的劳动力，使用经过行业验证的课程来满足区域需求；2)让学生更容易在网上获取课程资料；3)使用调度应用程序为学生保留实验室工作站。为了实现这些目标，TMCC建议：1)与行业员工进行DACUM分析；2)使用统一的课程设计和质量标准，让学生更容易地在线访问课程内容；3)研究并安装一个实验室调度应用程序，允许远程学习者在往返校园之前预订实验室工作站。此外，TMCC的学生将有机会参加特斯拉和松下的注册学徒计划。项目结果将在区域和国家会议上传播。此外，灵活的调度模式有望适用于全国其他行业，既支持传统学生，也支持那些寻求技能提升或再技能的在职工人。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。

There is tremendous growth in advanced manufacturing in western Nevada, with production technician careers expected to grow in the region by 15% annually for the next five years. With large manufacturers such as Tesla and Panasonic Corporation moving into the Reno area, the need for manufacturing technicians has become a dominant issue for ensuring the success of this industry and for the economic development goals of the region. Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) has also identified access to online content as a major barrier for students whose work schedules or home location interfere with their participation in traditional, on-campus courses. are working or who live far from campus. To generate the workforce necessary for the continued prosperity of the region, TMCC will create easy to use, flexible courses that it hopes will appeal to incumbent workers, lower skilled workers, and workers with non-traditional schedules. This approach may enable students who are unable to attend traditional classes to enroll in the courses necessary to complete programs. In turn, these programs have the potential to provide these students with employability skills, access to a stackable degree program leading toward the completion of an Associate of Applied Science with Production Technician emphasis, and upward mobility.The goals of the project are to: 1) provide an educated workforce using industry-validated curriculum to meet regional needs; 2) provide students easier access to course material online; and 3) use a scheduling application to reserve lab stations for student use. To achieve these goals, TMCC proposes to: 1) conduct DACUM analyses with industry employees; 2) provide students easier access to course content online using uniform course design and Quality Matters standards; and 3) research and install a lab scheduling application that will allow distant learners to reserve lab stations before commuting to campus. Additionally, TMCC students will have the opportunity to participate in the Tesla and Panasonic Registered Apprenticeship Programs. The project results will be disseminated at regional and national conferences. In addition, the flexible scheduling model is expected to be adaptable to other industries nationally supporting both traditional students and those incumbent workers seeking upskilling or re-skilling.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.