Bridging the Skills Gap in Smart Manufacturing through a New Technician Education Program

随着智能制造领域的迅速发展，将先进技术引入传统制造设施，技术教育必须与时俱进。这些技术包括智能机器、先进控制系统、工业物联网和云服务。该项目旨在解决雇主在智能制造中需要的技能与学生从传统技术教育项目中培养的技能之间日益扩大的差距。通过创建新的学术途径，该项目计划增加能够满足主要地区雇主需求的熟练技术人员的数量。该项目将支持专业发展活动，帮助大学和高中教师了解制造业的新趋势。新课程将侧重于让学生学习在智能制造环境中取得成功所需的技能。该项目也可能为其他想要实施智能制造技术教育计划的大学提供一个样板。该项目的主要目标是在智能制造领域创建一条与制造业相适应的技术员教育途径，目标是增加合格技术人员的供应，使他们精通先进技术应用。将进行工作技能分析，以确定智能制造设施所需的一组技术技能。根据分析结果，将制定一项智能制造课程，以包括通往应用科学副学士学位和证书的多条途径。这些途径还将包括制造业和信息技术领域现有工人的入口点和快速通道选项。智能制造职业道路计划将旨在招收代表性不足的学生，向高中生推广制造业职业，并与四年制项目建立转学协议。该项目还将组织一年一度的智能制造峰会，将行业从业者、社区大学教师和高中教师聚集在一起，以促进传播智能制造技术教育的最佳实践。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。

As the rapidly developing field of Smart Manufacturing introduces advanced technologies into traditional manufacturing facilities, technical education must keep pace. Such technologies include smart machines, advanced control systems, the industrial internet of things, and cloud services. This project aims to address the growing gap between the skills employers need in Smart Manufacturing and the skills students develop from traditional technical education programs. By creating new academic pathways, this project plans to increase the number of skilled technicians who can meet the demand from key regional employers. The project will support professional development activities to help college and high school instructors understand new trends in manufacturing. The new curriculum will focus on enabling students to learn the skills needed to be successful in a Smart Manufacturing environment. This project may also provide a model for other colleges that want to implement a Smart Manufacturing technical education program.The primary goal of this project is to create a manufacturing industry-aligned technician education pathway in Smart Manufacturing, with the goal of increasing the supply of qualified technicians with proficiency in advanced technology applications. A job skills analysis will be performed to identify the set of technical skills that are needed in Smart Manufacturing facilities. Based on the results of the analysis, a curriculum in Smart Manufacturing will be developed to include multiple pathways leading to Associate of Applied Science degrees and certificates. The pathways will also include entry points and fast track options for incumbent workers in manufacturing and information technology fields. A Smart Manufacturing career pathway initiative will be designed to recruit underrepresented students, promote careers in manufacturing to high school students, and establish transfer agreements with four-year programs. The project will also organize an annual Smart Manufacturing Summit to bring together industry practitioners, community college instructors, and high school instructors to promote dissemination of best practices in technical education for Smart Manufacturing. 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.