Industry and Academia: Priming the Talent Pump

Phil WaldropMER Steering CommitteeAccreditation Committee

Key Issues

• Nature and magnitude of talent shortfall• Issues and priorities impacting the U.S.

academic world• Solutions under development• Industry involvement:

– Needs, opportunities, benefits

Nature & Magnitude of Talent Shortfall

• Manufacturing education is in crisis.• Despite a high U.S. unemployment rate -

between 8% and 10% from 2/2009 through 3/2012 - as many as 600,000 manufacturing jobs have gone unfilled because of a shortage of skilled workers.– 5/2012 Draft SME White Paper “A Strategy for manufacturing

Education”

Talent ShortfallASME Vision 2030 Study – Creating the Future of Mechanical Engineering Education– Phase I Report [June, 2011 – ASEE Conference]

• At least 12 of the 15 pages contain industry survey appeals for design and manufacturing to be fundamental topics in curricula, along with a “design/build spline”– Along with…

• Industry‐declared major weaknesses in a lack of understanding of manufacturing processes and “how devices are made”

• Stated need for product manufacturing courses along with more practical experience and industrial experience

Nature & Magnitude of Talent Shortfall

Nature & Magnitude of Talent Shortfall:

How Things Are Made• Current engineering

programs provide little knowledge of process methods and tooling, or of DFMA and Lean Manufacturing

• Program Downsizing and Closures of “Manufacturing Named” Programs– At peak, there were fewer than 1.5 accredited MfgE and MfgET programs per U.S. state

– Followed by a 22% decline in accredited Mfg programs since 2002

– Resulting Inadequate Numbers of Students and Graduates Available to Industry

Threats to Manufacturing Education

• Outdated Manufacturing Curricula• Inadequate Hiring, Preparation, and Support of Manufacturing Educators

• Students and parents lack accurate, motivating insights to careers in modern manufacturing enterprises

Threats to Manufacturing Education

Issues and Priorities Impacting the U.S. Academic World

• National/state economies not capable of providing strong funding for colleges– Especially in hiring competition with industry

and for mfg research and teaching facilities• Universities shifting away from applied

technology programs

Issues and Priorities Impacting the U.S. Academic World

• Hiring emphasis on faculty with research orientation to compete for external grants

• Most new(er) faculty unfamiliar with Manufacturing and DFMA

• Industry in general provides few faculty “publishable” research opportunities– applied versus engineering science/pure

research

Solutions Under Development• SME MER Community has published a

curriculum guideline encompassing the full depth and breadth of Manufacturing– This Curricula 2015 Report can be found in PDF

form at http://www.C2015.com• A Four Year Strategic Plan for Manufacturing

Education – Six key components are ranked by the SME White

Paper…

Curricula 2015 Report Components

• Standards for certifications and accreditation.• Curriculum revision and development.• Faculty development and teaching methodologies• Manufacturing education for all engineering and

technology disciplines. • The student pipeline.• Investment in programs.

C2015: The Four Pillars of Manufacturingdistinguishes Manufacturing from other disciplines

Visually aligns the ABET Program Criteria

with

The SME Certification Body of Knowledge topics

Depicts manufacturing curricula

Finer Details:

Expected impacts

Clear definition of manufacturingand alignment of curricula

Schools engaging faculty and industry in review of manufacturing content

Continuous improvements in named manufacturing programs

Increase in number of accredited manufacturing programs(2 and 4 year)

Manufacturing content in related engineering and engineering technology programs

Prepared Manufacturing Professionals for Hire

C2015

What is MER proposing via C2015?

• A collaborative effort among educators from several disciplines in engineering, engineering technology, industrial technology, applied technology, along with manufacturing professionals from industry …

Industry Involvement: Needs, Opportunities, BenefitsIndustries need professionals with

breadth/depth of current applied technical and technical management knowledge

1.Encourage/promote active SME membership as an essential source of knowledge and networking for both ‘design’ and ‘build’ employees

Industry Involvement: Needs, Opportunities, Benefits

2. Provide scholarships to attract and support manufacturing students

3. Encourage students to enter and stay on the Manufacturing career path

4. Develop a press kit and good news stories of success and growth in Manufacturing

Source: http://www.c2015.com/home/recommendations

Industry Involvement: Needs, Opportunities, Benefits5. Promote the message that Manufacturing

Engineers design products 6. Develop a concise image of Manufacturing

Engineering to support public understanding 7. Provide motivation and support for students

already in manufacturing 8. Promote an understanding of economics to

help build confidence in ManufacturingSource: http://www.c2015.com/home/recommendations

Industry Involvement: Needs, Opportunities, Benefits9. Encourage industries to preferentially hire

manufacturing program graduates10.Provide activities to attract K-12 students to

study manufacturing subjects 11.Reverse the loss of technical programs in the

K-12 system 12.Support manufacturing career pathways that

may not include collegeSource: http://www.c2015.com/home/recommendations

Industry Involvement: Needs, Opportunities, Benefits13. Facilitate youth awareness of, interest in,

manufacturing-related career paths– Support local K-12 programs such as STEM and

the CIM element of PLTW (Project Lead The Way)– Lobby school districts to re-establish related

technical courses

14.Initiate/support a student SME chapter at a 2- or 4-year college

Industry Involvement: Needs, Opportunities, Benefits15.Provide internship and/or co-op opportunities16.Provide faculty with research/publication

opportunities and summer real-world design and manufacturing work exposure

17. Assist SME MER by providing applied DFMA and Lean case studies for faculty use

Industry Involvement: Needs, Opportunities, Benefits18. Become active as a member of the advisory

board for an accredited industrial technology, engineering technology, and/or engineering degree program.

– Host a meeting on-site, get faculty, students and administrators into your world

Industry Involvement: Needs, Opportunities, Benefits19. Communicate your priority needs and

expectations to college administrators- Do NOT assume that administrators are aware of or

have a background by which to understand your particular needs

20. Promote creation of Manufacturing-named 2-and 4-year college degrees, options, concentrations and/or minors

Industry Involvement: Needs, Opportunities, Benefits21.Consider ATMAE programs as a key

source of grads for positions that do not require pure “design” engineering skills– Manufacturing/Industrial Engineering, Lean

coordinators, production management, project management, maintenance, quality

– As exemplified by Briggs & Stratton, Gulfstream Aerospace, ALCOA, and others

Industry Involvement: Needs, Opportunities, BenefitsATMAE-accredited degrees often include

engineering fundamentals but include far more hands-on laboratory coursework– Materials/processes, CAD, automation, etc.– Nationally, there are more ATMAE 2- and -4-

year technical and technology management degrees than there are ABET and TAC accredited programs (See ATMAE.org )

Conclusions• Do not wait for “someone else” to provide

solutions for your manufacturing technical and professional talent shortfalls

• Pursue existing opportunities to prime the education pump at all levels, including faculty development and support

• Do not restrict recruitment/hiring to engineering graduates