| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 15, 2019 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 30, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 1902339 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Jill Nelson
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2019 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $542,998.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $542,998.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2020 = $178,891.00 FY 2021 = $178,836.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
43600 MISSION BLVD FREMONT CA US 94539-5847 (510)659-6000 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
43600 Mission Blvd Fremont CA US 94539-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Advanced Tech Education Prog |
| Primary Program Source: |
04002021DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04002122DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
A growing number of U.S. companies are finding ways to automate and control how they manufacture products using digital, or "smart," technologies. This manufacturing trend has created an unmet demand for well-qualified technicians in the Silicon Valley region of California. To help address this need, Ohlone College will develop a program in smart advanced manufacturing that offers new courses, certificates, and an associate degree. The program will include pathways and supports for students who might need more help building their math skills. This structure will also be used to help encourage and retain more students, particularly those from underrepresented groups. The program will create learning communities with student cohorts and include internships opportunities that allow students to connect their classroom learning to the technical skills needed for the workplace. The project team will work closely with local industries and organizations to design the program and courses to make sure the necessary workforce skills are included. The project will also expose high school students to advanced manufacturing projects and careers. It is expected that these efforts will help to increase the number of qualified technicians for the smart advanced manufacturing workforce.
This project aims to develop and certify a new program that includes seven new courses, a Certificate of Achievement, and an associate degree in smart advanced manufacturing. The associate degree will have concentrations in the "Internet of Things," Automation & Fabrication, and Prototyping. The program will be designed in collaboration with local manufacturing industries and will feature highly-supported pathways with defined on-ramps aligned with the incoming students' level of preparation. Students will progress through the courses and degree pathways in a block-scheduled, cohort-based learning community that has wraparound academic and social support. This wraparound support will emphasize elements such as study skills development, field trips to industry sites, cohort meetings, and team-building activities. Experiential learning will be integrated into the degree program through internships in a three-credit Work-Based Project course that students will take after they complete their first year of coursework. Outreach to increase the interest of high school students in advanced manufacturing careers will include hands-on projects, design challenges, and demonstrations of techniques and new technologies. Project results, course materials, and best practices will be widely disseminated, including to the Bay Area Community College Consortium and regional hubs in the STEM Core Alliance of the Growth Sector non-profit. 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.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Project Overview
The Smart Advanced Manufacturing Education in the Silicon Valley project was created to develop and deliver a package of new engineering technology courses driven by evolving advanced manufacturing employment needs and organizing them in a structured, highly supported pathway with defined onramps. These onramps are targeted specifically for developmental students, traditionally underrepresented in STEM degree and career tracks, in order to expand and diversify the talent pool of engineering technicians qualified for employment with local advanced manufacturing companies. During the course of the grant period, this project proposed to certify new Smart Advanced Manufacturing Courses, Certificate of Achievement in Smart Advanced Manufacturing, and an A.S.Degree in Smart Advanced Manufacturing. Students will move through the courses and degree pathway in a cohort-based learning community and will be provided with wraparound academic and social support by the Student Support Specialist. In addition to delivering courses directly to community college students at Ohlone College, this project proposed to provide targeted outreach and demonstration of advanced manufacturing projects and careers directly to high school students.
Project Objectives
1. Finalize development of seven new engineering technology courses reflecting documented employer needs for smart advanced manufacturing
2. Finalize A.S. degree program in Smart Advanced Manufacturing with concentrations in both Internet of Things (IOT) and Automation and Fabrication and Prototyping with industry endorsement
3. Develop 20 industry internships per year and place 20 Smart Advanced Manufacturing students into internships per year.
4. Develop a cohort-based learning community moving through Smart Advanced Manufacturing degree program enrolling 60 students over the course of the grant period
Project objectives were met and, in some cases, exceeded.
Intellectual Merit
- The Project successfully created an innovative Internship Program in Smart Manufacturing Technology known as the Smart Manufacturing in the Silicon Valley Internship Program (SMISVIP). The SMISVIP successfully started with the first cohort of 20 student interns in Summer 2020, grew during the program’s second year to a total of 24 student internships for Summer 2021, and placed 32 students for internships in Year 3 (Summer 2022). The program serves as a best practice model regionally for Community College Students internships in Smart Advanced Manufacturing.
- The initial goal of the program as mentioned in the grant proposal was to place and subsidize 20 student interns/year and 60 over the 3-year term of the grant. The program exceeded this goal and placed 76 students over the three years of the grant.
- Additionally, SMISVIP internship host sites included 10 unique placement locations including advanced manufacturers in automotive, medical device, contract manufacturing and R&D sectors.
- During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the project team innovatively pivoted and created novel virtual/remote/hybrid Smart Manufacturing internship opportunities for students. These virtual internships were novel and first of their kind. Internship host sites in the course of the grant lifecycle included companies like Tesla, Evolve Manufacturing, PrinterPrezz, Lam Research, Bay Area Circuits, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and Unigen to mention a few.
- The project successfully created and certified Smart Manufacturing Technology Program with Certificates of Achievements and Associate of Science Degree. The program being one of the first Industry 4.0 programs in the region received recognition from Amatrol as a Center of Excellence in Smart Manufacturing Education.
- The Program became one of the first in the region to create an Earn and Learn Program in Smart Manufacturing partnering with Evolve Manufacturing for the first cohort. Over the last two years the Eran and Learn Programs have trained over 50 individuals in Smart manufacturing technology.
- The program became the first Community College on the West Coast to deliver the Tesla Manufacturing Technology Program (MDP)
- The Program developed innovative outreach programs like the STEM Summer Bridge Program and the Smart Manufacturing Technology for Youth Program to increase outreach to high schools and youth population.
- The Project initiatives and programs continue to be recognized as a best practice nationally and regionally in workforce development for Smart Manufacturing/Industry 4.0. The project team continue to share best practices and lessons learnt to a broad audience of stakeholders nationally and regionally
Broader Impact
- The projects internships program remained focused on increasing participation of women, first generation and other historically underserved students (Veterans, African American, Latinx) in Smart Manufacturing
- The Program's Earn and Learn Programs intentionally focused on serving historically underserved populations, especially English as a Second Language students, Women, Black, Indigenous, People of Color( BIPOC) and Refugees from war torn regions.
- The program's Laboratory (Smart Factory, 3D Printing, CNC, Laser cutters), continues to serve as an innovation hub serving local middle schools, high school, community and Ohlone College student clubs. This has supported the increased in interest in Smart Manufacturing Technologies for a diverse population.
- The project internship and earn & learn programs have supported the hiring of diverse and underserved populations, helping to diversity the workforce pipeline in Manufacturing.
Last Modified: 01/23/2023
Modified by: Rose-Margaret Itua
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