Technical Education Pathways for Advanced Manufacturing Technology

由于制造设施中采用的快速变化的技术和现有技术人员的退休，美国制造业正面临熟练技术人员的严重短缺。为了解决这一短缺问题，北方加州的行业、万年青谷学院和美国制造业研究所（NextFlex）将共同努力，创建与行业一致的教育计划，提高学生对先进制造业职业的认识，并招募学生参加符合他们兴趣的先进制造业教育计划。 这种伙伴关系将开发多种教育途径，包括证书和先进制造技术的科学学位。该项目的中心目标是增加拥有先进制造业适当技能的技术人员的供应，以满足区域工业需求。预计在该项目中吸取的经验教训将为面临类似挑战的全国各地区带来一套非常有效的做法。 项目合作伙伴将使用成功的商业行业领导团队模型来确定先进制造业合作伙伴所需的关键知识，技能和属性（KSA）。KSA将用于为技术教育计划的课程开发过程提供信息。课程将包括在行业合作伙伴设施工作为基础的学习经验。为了增加新项目的学生供应，现有的高中外展模型FlexFactor将用于让学生，行业合作伙伴和项目团队成员参与基于项目的学习体验。为了评估项目的有效性，合作伙伴将监测学生的成果和雇主的满意度。项目合作伙伴还将记录经验教训和最佳做法，以便通过会议和媒体发布与该地区和国家的技术教育界分享。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NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Due to rapidly changing technologies that are being adopted in manufacturing facilities and retirements of current technicians, America’s manufacturing industry is facing a critical shortage of skilled technicians. To address this shortage, industries in northern California, Evergreen Valley College, and a Manufacturing U.S.A. Institute (NextFlex) will work together to create industry-aligned education programs, increase student awareness of careers in advanced manufacturing, and recruit students into advanced manufacturing education programs that meet their interests. This partnership will develop multiple education pathways including certificates and an Associate of Science degree in Advanced Manufacturing Technology. The central goal of this project is to increase the supply of technicians who have the right skills in advanced manufacturing to meet regional industry demand. It is expected that lessons learned in this project will result in a set of highly effective practices for regions across the country facing similar challenges. Project partners will use the successful Business Industry Leadership Team model to identify the critical knowledge, skills, and attributes (KSAs) required by advanced manufacturing industry partners. The KSAs will be used to inform the curriculum development process for the technical education programs. Courses will include work-based learning experiences at industry partner facilities. To increase the supply of students in the new programs, an existing high school outreach model, FlexFactor, will be used to engage students, industry partners, and project team members in project-based learning experiences. To evaluate the effectiveness of the project, partners will monitor student outcomes and employer satisfaction. Project partners will also document lessons learned and best practices with the intent of sharing them with the technical education community in the region and the nation through conferences and media releases. 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.