Cross-Pollination Skillsets: Growing Mechatronics and Agricultural Collaborations for Producing Skilled Agricultural Technicians

异花授粉技能：不断发展机电一体化和农业合作，培养熟练的农业技术人员

• 批准号: 2350254
• 负责人: David Berry
• 金额: $ 34.32万
• 依托单位: Virginia Western Community College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-06-01 至 2027-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2350254&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Cross; Pollination; Skillsets; Growing; Mechatronics

This project aims to serve the national interest by advancing workforce readiness of agricultural technicians. Agriculture is a top economic driver in Virginia. Both the state government and private industry are currently investing in industries focused on hydroponics, precision-agriculture, and controlled-environmental agriculture. This project directly aligns with these initiatives and will develop an agriculture-technology (Ag-Tech) curriculum that teaches skillsets needed by today’s technicians. The project will meet the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program mission by highlighting successful members of the STEM workforce from traditionally underserved groups in STEM and merging two traditionally divided areas of study into one career studies certificate. Specifically, this effort seeks to blend the mechatronics discipline with agriculture disciplines. As no Ag-Tech program currently exists within the Virginia Community College system, the project will serve as a model for those seeking to develop one. The project will play an important role in workforce development by maintaining BILT (Business & Industry Leadership Team) partnerships and using industry feedback to grow the novel Ag-Tech program. The project will advance the understanding of modern mechatronics skills, agricultural knowledge, and leadership skills to grow a regional workforce needed to meet the growing field of precision-agriculture. The goal of this project is to develop a novel Ag-Tech career studies certificate (CSC) that can be completed at the community college in just four semesters. The scope of the project will involve current faculty and staff, industry leaders, high school instructors, and current and future Virginia Western Community College students. The project will advance understanding of mechatronics and agricultural skills needed in an Ag-Tech career through field trips to partnering industries and development of new courses through feedback from current BILT leaders. New courses will include vertical growing, autonomous vehicles, and agricultural leadership. This project will add to the field intellectually through development of a novel Ag-Tech CSC that currently does not exist in the VCCS. With the goal of producing 45 graduates, the project will benefit the local economy of Roanoke by generating $3.3 million in direct, indirect, and induced economic impact over 3 years. Evaluation of the project will be performed twice a year through student, faculty, and industry feedback. Annual evaluation activities will analyze number of participants, retention, and satisfaction with the project to determine future direction if feedback indicates changes are needed. The progress and results of the project will be disseminated through ATE Central, internally in the college, with participants at HI-TEC (High Impact Technology Exchange Conference), and potentially in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Engineering Technology (JET). 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.

该项目旨在通过促进农业技术的劳动力准备来满足国家利益。农业是弗吉尼亚州的主要经济驱动力。目前，州政府和私营企业都投资于关注水培，精确农业和受控环境农业的行业。该项目与这些举措直接保持一致，并将开发农业技术（AG-Tech）课程，该课程教授当今技术所需的技能。该项目将通过强调STEM中传统上服务不足的小组的STEM劳动力成员的成功成员，并将两个传统上分裂的研究领域合并为一个职业研究证书，从而符合NSF高级技术教育（ATE）计划任务。具体而言，这种努力旨在将机制纪律与农业学科融合在一起。由于目前在弗吉尼亚社区大学系统中不存在AG-Tech计划，因此该项目将成为那些寻求开发该计划的人的典范。该项目将通过维护BILT（商业和行业领导团队）合作伙伴关系并利用行业反馈来发展新颖的AG-Tech计划，从而在劳动力发展中发挥重要作用。该项目将促进对现代机电一体化技能，农业知识和领导能力的理解，以增进满足日益增长的精确农业领域所需的区域劳动力。该项目的目的是开发新颖的AG-Tech职业研究证书（CSC），该证书只需四个学期就可以在社区学院完成。该项目的范围将涉及当前的教职员工，行业领导者，高中教练以及当前和未来的弗吉尼亚州西部社区大学生。该项目将通过实地考察与合作行业的实地考察和开发新课程的新课程，通过目前的BILT领导者的反馈来了解AG-Tech职业中所需的机电一体化和农业技能。新课程将包括垂直增长，自动驾驶汽车和农业领导。该项目将通过开发新型AG-Tech CSC在VCC中不存在的新型AG-Tech CSC来增加领域。为了培养45名毕业生，该项目将通过在3年中产生330万美元的直接，间接和诱发经济影响，从而使罗阿诺克当地经济受益。该项目的评估将每年通过学生，教职员工和行业反馈进行两次。年度评估活动将分析参与者的数量，保留率和对项目的满意度，以确定未来的方向，如果反馈表明需要更改。该项目的进度和结果将通过大学内部的Ate Central（Hi-Tec（Hi-Tec）（高影响力交流会议））进行传播，并有可能在同行评审的期刊上，例如工程技术杂志（JET）。该项目由高级技术教育计划资助，该计划的重点是推动国家经济的高级技术领域的技术人员的教育。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子的智力优点和更广泛影响的审查标准通过评估来获得支持的。