Search for: All records

Manufacturing is undergoing rapid changes due to the demands of product complexity and variety, and therefore factories are demanded to become smarter and more efficient. This transformation is known as advanced manufacturing and will require a new generation of skilled employees. There is a huge lack of qualified personnel in advanced manufacturing stemming from a lack of student interest compounded with a lack of experienced teachers who usually motivate students. This paper describes the findings of an NSF RET project at an US university that successfully addresses the common need to produce STEM graduates in the advanced manufacturing area. We recruited fifteen high school and community college STEM educators for a six-week immersive summer research experience in the state-of-the-art robotics laboratory. At the end of their research workshop, they developed customized hands-on advanced manufacturing curricula for their students. This project produced fifteen competent high school and community college educators, who are capable of blending research with educational activities at their institutions, motivating students for STEM degrees, and building long-term collaborative partnerships in the region. This paper will share some of their successful research projects, how they translated their research into actionable curriculum modules, and some lessons learned from implementations. This paper will also explain the evaluation process and share the results. In view of the pre-survey and post-survey data analyses, it can be concluded that educator participants of the program increased their knowledge and research experiences at very high-quality research facilities and under expert guidance.