Industry 4.0 Technicians in Advanced Manufacturing

第四次工业革命，也被称为工业4.0，正在全球范围内引发新一轮互联和智能制造浪潮。Industry 4.0将先进制造系统与网络物理系统、物联网和云计算等技术相结合。各公司正在重新设计和精简生产线，以纳入这些技术并提高工艺自动化程度。先进制造的日益复杂使得制造技术人员理解先进的概念并拥有良好的分析和解决问题的技能变得比以往任何时候都更加重要。为了满足这一劳动力需求，杰克逊维尔的佛罗里达州立大学和伊利诺伊州的莱克县学院将与企业和工业组织合作。通过这一合作关系，他们将在先进制造业的副学士学位课程中增加与新生产方法相关的主题。该项目将帮助培养具有制造业新兴创新所需知识和技能的技术人员。该项目还将专注于增加来自代表性不足群体的学生人数，他们注册并毕业于高级制造业学位课程。因此，该项目旨在增强先进制造技术员劳动力的多样性。该项目的目标将是：1)修改两所院校自动化、机器人、机电一体化和工程技术副学士学位课程，以纳入与工业4.0相关的概念；2)创建一个模拟的智能设施，其中包含最先进的设备，学生可以在其中应用在课程中学到的知识，并利用真实世界的情景增强他们的技能；以及3)开发迷你实验室和基于实验室的工具包，以提供实践学习活动，使高中生和教师能够接触到新的先进制造技术和概念。现有课程将进行修改，加入与系统集成、数字制造、数据分析和网络安全相关的内容。课程的改进旨在提高学生对制造硬件、自动化过程和监控以及相关软件应用程序之间的联系的理解。改进后的课程将是灵活的，允许学生和在职工人通过全国认证中心联盟获得可堆叠的证书。学院的教职员工将接受专业发展，以促进他们在新内容领域的知识，并提高他们使用新软件和设备的能力。将利用微型实验室和定制的技术内容为高中生和教师举办讲习班和外联活动。这些活动将旨在增加中学对这些技术的教和学，并提高对不断发展的先进制造业中职业道路的认识。项目成果和材料将在一个专门的网站、在线储存库以及区域和国家场所共享。该项目由高级技术教育计划资助，该计划专注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。

The fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, is causing a new wave of connected and smart manufacturing across the globe. Industry 4.0 combines advanced manufacturing systems with technologies such as cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing. Companies are redesigning and streamlining their production lines to include these technologies and increase process automation. The growing complexity of advanced manufacturing makes it even more important than ever before for manufacturing technicians to understand advanced concepts and have good analytical and problem-solving skills. To meet this workforce need, Florida State College at Jacksonville and the College of Lake County in Illinois will partner with businesses and industrial organizations. Through this partnership, they will add topics related to new production methods to their associate degree programs in advanced manufacturing. This project will help prepare technicians who have the necessary knowledge and skills for the emerging innovations in the manufacturing industry. The project will also focus on increasing the number students from under-represented groups who enroll in and graduate from the advanced manufacturing degree programs. As a result, the project aims to enhance the diversity of the advanced manufacturing technician workforce.The goals of this project will be to: 1) modify courses in the Automation, Robotics, Mechatronics, and Engineering Technology associate degree programs at both institutions to incorporate concepts relevant to Industry 4.0; 2) create a simulated Smart Facility with state-of-the-art equipment in which students can apply knowledge learned in the courses and strengthen their skills using real-world scenarios; and 3) develop mini-labs and lab-based kits to provide hands-on learning activities that engage high school students and teachers with new advanced manufacturing technologies and concepts. The existing courses will be modified to embed content related to system integration, digital manufacturing, data analytics, and cybersecurity. The course enhancements will be designed to increase students' understanding of the connections between manufacturing hardware, automated processes and monitoring, and the relevant software applications. The refined curriculum will be flexible, allowing students and incumbent workers to obtain stackable certifications through the National Coalition of Certification Centers. Faculty at the colleges will receive professional development to promote their knowledge in the new content areas and increase their ability to use the new software and equipment. Workshops and outreach events for high school students and teachers will be conducted using mini-labs and customized technical content. These activities will aim to increase teaching and learning about these technologies in secondary schools as well as increase awareness of career pathways in the evolving advanced manufacturing industry. Project results and materials will be shared on a dedicated website, in online repositories, and at regional and national venues. 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.