Industry 4.0 Skills for Manufacturing Technicians: Adjusting Engineering Technology Programs to Respond to Industry Identified Skills

制造工作空间和未来支持该空间的技术人员队伍是当今需要处理的一个重要问题。随着工业4.0技术被整合到佛罗里达州各地的制造设施中，在这些设施工作的制造技术人员必须准备学习新的技能和知识。此外，学生在进入劳动力市场之前必须获得这些技能。该项目将在佛罗里达州的工程技术计划和制造技术人员队伍中注入行业4.0技能。该项目利用了之前获奖的佛罗里达社区学院和制造商技术人员未来工作问题核心小组的结果。核心小组确定了佛罗里达州特有的技术人员劳动力技能缺陷，以及全州范围内愿意解决这一问题的佛罗里达州制造商的集合。这些发现和制造商将为该项目开发一个模型，用于在佛罗里达州工业界、州立大学、弗洛里达梅克斯(国家标准与技术研究所(NIST)制造扩展伙伴关系)和佛罗里达州教育部之间就行业4.0确定的技能需求进行合作互动。该项目的总体目标将是生成支持未来以及佛罗里达州现有技术人员获取与工业4.0(I 4.0)技术相关的STEM知识的途径。将开发两个大学证书，与佛罗里达州所有22个工程技术学位课程的学分挂钩，以支持这一目标。第一个目标是佛罗里达州工程技术副学士学位项目的学生，以确保他们已经确定了制造商所需的技能。第二个证书将是副学士学位后的技术证书，它将提高技术人员的技能，并为希望继续深造的人提供在佛罗里达州州立学院和大学进行STEM相关四年制课程的途径。项目人员将直接与佛罗里达州教育部(FLDOE)合作，通过FLDOE维护的框架满足州立法机构对职业与技术教育(CTE)课程的期望。专业发展活动将为教员提供在项目持续时间内定义的I4.0技术的额外专业知识。预计项目成果将使学生更多地接触到佛罗里达州所有社区学院服务区的潜在雇主；更多的佛罗里达州制造商和制造商组织积极参与制造业职业和技术教育；通过该项目为现有制造技术人员颁发的学分大学证书，提高职业发展；扩大制造商获得佛罗里达州立大学驻地专业知识的机会；以及增加整个佛罗里达州制造商访问佛罗里达制造网络的机会。项目完成后，参与该项目的五个全州范围的组织(佛罗里达州制造先进制造劳动力领导委员会和董事会技术委员会、全州工程技术行业咨询委员会、佛罗里达工程技术论坛和Flate)将承担专门的职责，允许每个组织利用自己的资源来澄清并纠正制造商确定的技术人员技能缺陷。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 manufacturing workspace and the technician workforce that will support that space in the future is an important issue to deal with today. As Industry 4.0 technologies are integrated into manufacturing facilities around Florida, manufacturing technicians working in these facilities must prepare to acquire new skills and knowledge. Also, students must gain these skills prior to entering the workforce. This project will infuse Industry 4.0 skills within both Florida's Engineering Technology programs and the manufacturing technician workforce. The project is leveraging findings from a prior award, Technician Future of Work Issues Caucus for Florida Community Colleges and Manufacturers. The Caucus identified Florida-specific technician workforce skills deficiencies and a statewide collection of Florida manufacturers willing to work on this problem. The findings and the manufacturers will inform this project to develop a model for cooperative interactions on Industry 4.0 identified skill needs between Florida industry, state colleges, FloridaMakes (National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extensions Partnership) and the Florida Department of Education. The overall project goal will be to generate pathways that support future as well as incumbent technicians in Florida acquiring STEM knowledge related to Industry 4.0 (I 4.0) technologies. Two college certificates with credit articulation to all twenty-two Engineering Technology degree programs in Florida will be developed to support this goal. The first targets students in Florida's Engineering Technology associate's degree programs to assure they have manufacturer identified I 4.0 needed skills. The second certificate will be a post-associate's degree technical certificate that upskills technicians and generates a pathway to STEM-related 4-year programs at state colleges and universities in Florida for people looking to continue their education. Project personnel will work directly with the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) to meet State Legislature expectations for Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses through FLDOE maintained Frameworks. Professional Development activities will provide faculty additional expertise in I 4.0 technologies as defined during the project’s duration. It is expected that project outcomes will lead to increased student access to potential employers in all Florida community college service regions; active engagement of more Florida manufacturers and manufacturer organizations in manufacturing career and technical education; increased career advancement through the project's credit-bearing college certificates for current manufacturing technicians; broadened manufacturer's access to Florida State College resident expertise; and increased manufacturer statewide access to the FloridaMakes network. Upon project completion, the five statewide organizations involved in the project (FloridaMakes Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Leadership Council and Board of Directors Technology Committee, Engineering Technology Statewide Industry Advisory Board, Florida Engineering Technology Forum, and FLATE) will have crafted duties that allows each to employ their own resources to execute their part in clarifying and then rectifying manufacturer identified technician skills deficiencies.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.