Developing a Technician Training Program for the Advanced Manufacturing Workforce

As the manufacturing sector in the United States continues to evolve, the need for a highly skilled workforce is increasing. As a result, the nation is experiencing a critical shortage of trained professionals who have the skills required to function in an advanced manufacturing environment. This project will improve and expand technical training opportunities in advanced manufacturing at Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC).

As one of the few programs of this kind in the Midwest, this program will provide both the workers that employers are searching for as well as establishing an educational pipeline for students interested in manufacturing. Exploration opportunities for K-12 students will be developed to build interest in manufacturing trades. Students who gain an interest in automation through one of OTC’s tours or summer camps will have the opportunity to earn a degree in advanced manufacturing.

These will then be qualified to fill one of the high-demand positions in advanced manufacturing available at area employers.

This project has two overarching goals, 1) improve and expand automation and robotics instruction for manufacturing at two-year colleges, and 2) increase the awareness of automation and robotics career pathways for secondary students. The resulting programs, developed with input from industry stakeholders, will focus on critical areas such as robotic programming and maintenance, integration of programmable automation controllers into the manufacturing process, and development of IT infrastructure to support automated systems.

To address the gap in skilled workers, the program will develop a secondary to post-secondary talent pipeline, utilizing a layered approach to begin building interest in automation and robotics early in high school. The program will develop a series of experiences that allow secondary students to develop an interest in the field. This method will allow multiple entry points and varying levels of involvement to develop a workforce prepared for the needs of Industry 4.0.

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.