Address Industry Identified Industry 4.0 Technologies-Related Skills Need for Manufacturing Technicians

(NSF ATE #2148138)

This project directly impacts the reality that Industry 4.0 skill deficiencies exist within Florida’s manufacturing technician workforce. The previous project, DUE 1939173, 4/1/20 – 4/1/21, Technician Future of Work Issues Caucus for Florida Community Colleges and Manufacturers, identified Florida- specific technician workforce skills deficiencies and a statewide collection of Florida manufacturers willing to work on this problem. This project confronts the skills deficiency issue with the creation of a model for cooperative interactions on Industry 4.0 identified skill needs between Florida industry, state colleges, FloridaMakes, and the Department of Education. 

This project was funded by the National Science foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF-ATE): Grant # #2148138 which is a partnership of FloridaMakes, FLATE a part of the FloridaMakes Network, the College of Central Florida, Daytona State College, Polk State College, and St. Petersburg College.

Curriculum Updates:

Sam Ajlani, Ron Eaglin, Jay Paterson/Susan Frandsen, and Marilyn Barger (facilitating and consulting) developed and disseminated a data management survey to all colleges with related ET programs based on the first Caucus grant, presented the survey results at the last ET forum online, and from the results, currently developed a new certificate based on the current Automation CCC.

• NEW! ASET Course Database (Work in Progress)
• 20148138 NSF Grant Curriculum Presentation FINAL

Professional Development:

Professional Development to up-skill Engineering Technology Degree faculty related to manufacturer identified Industry 4.0 technician skills need:

• Cybersecurity Across Disciplines, College of Central Florida, January 5-6, 2023
• Mechatronics 101 Educators Workshop, Hillsborough Community College, March 9 2023
• FANUC Aligning Skills Between Industry & Education Workshop, April 20, 2023

Industry Engagement: Statewide ET Industry Advisory Board

The Statewide Engineering Technology Industry Advisory Board (SETIAB) was created to engage manufacturers with college A.S.ET skills and certificates.  The goal of the new SETIAB is to ensure that the more than twenty ET programs in the state continue to meet the rapidly evolving needs of industry and to raise the visibility of the skills and competencies of the program completers and to raise the visibility of the A.S. Engineering Technology degree program.

The first SETIAB meeting took place on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, the evening prior to the Spring Engineering Technology Forum (ET Forum). The initial board has industry representatives from 6 state and community colleges and will focus on reviewing the advanced manufacturing competencies, recruiting additional members from other colleges, and setting up its organizational structure and bylaws.  The board will consist of at least one industry representative who supports a college ET advisory board, a member from FloridaMakes and a representative from the K12 education system in Florida and one from the Florida Department of Education’s Adult and Career Education Division. Non-voting members of the new advisory board include representatives from college programs that have an industry member of the board and representatives from FLATE. In the coming months, the college leadership and FLATE will be recruiting SETIAB board members from other colleges.

Visit the SETIAB website: https://flate.site/setiab/

Other Conference Presentations/Papers:

• Marilyn Barger Ph.D., P.E. (2022). ATE PI Panel Presentation: Bold Innovations in Advanced Manufacturing Technician Education. 2022 ATE Principal Investigators’ Conference. Washington, DC.
• Marilyn Barger Ph.D., P.E.; John Sands (2022). Cyber Security for Manufacturing presentation. 2022 Virtual Engineering Technology Forum. virtual.
• Marilyn Barger Ph.D (2022). FLATE Overview at Manufacturing Conversation. Manufacturing Conversation @Central Virginia Community College. Lynchburg, VA.
• Marilyn Barger, Sam Ajlani, Phill Centonze (2022). Future of Work Issues for Florida Two Year Engineering Technology Program. 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. Minneapolis, MN.
• Marilyn Barger Ph.D., P.E.; FloridaMakes and FLATE Richard Gilbert Ph.D.; University of South Florida College of Engineering (2023). Industry 4.0 Technology Skill Expectation Integration into Engineering Technology Technical Workforce. 2023 ASEE Conference for for Industry and Education Collaboration. North Charleston, SC.
• Marilyn Barger Ph.D., P.E., Richard Gilbert PhD. (2022). Industry-Identified Skills Gaps and Education Pipeline Response. Engineering Technology Leadership Institute, Engineering Technology Leaders: Taking the Next Steps-ASEE. Alexandria, VA.
• Marilyn Barger Ph.D., P.E. (2023). Introducing Dual – Credit Web – Based Mechatronics with High Schools. 2022 Annual Florida Career Pathways Network (FCPN). Jensen Beach.