2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Educating the Workforce of the 21st Century through Smart Manufacturing Systems in the Classrooms

Presented at Mechanical Engineering Division (MECH) Technical Session 5: Preparing the Future Workforce

Advanced manufacturing technologies have been identified as a critical and emerging field in the U.S. by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). Consequently, the U.S. government is encouraging universities and other educational institutions across the country to promote manufacturing programs. These programs could equip their students with the various high-technology skills needed to succeed in the new era of smart automation and adaptive industrial systems. To comply with such demand, a new manufacturing facility was founded at The University of Alabama and launched in collaboration with industrial partners. This facility, The Alabama Initiative on Manufacturing Development and Education (Alabama IMaDE), was founded to support a newly developed bachelor’s degree in manufacturing systems engineering, as well as to support local and regional manufacturing activities through education, research, and service with a systems integration and industry mindset approach. This educational center enables hands-on, project-based learning in robotic manufacturing; as well as instruction in the programming, operation, and implementation of automated systems.

To advance the facility’s goal and mission, a two-day workshop on Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS) was held for local high school teachers to introduce them to the concept of SMS and encourage its instruction across the state. The event was intended to expose the teachers to some elements and components of an SMS, connect them with our industrial and educational partners, and help them with the implementation of manufacturing programs at their institutions. During the Workshop, high school educators participated in three training sessions including 1) Introduction to Manufacturing Automation, Industry 4.0 and Smart Sensors, 2) Programmable Logic Control (PLC), and 3) Industrial Robot Programming. Key industrial partners conducted presentations and equipment demonstrations for the participants to help them incorporate the teaching of manufacturing technologies into their institutions’ STEM curricula. This paper discusses the imparted workshop, its results, and potential impacts as well as the participants’ responses to both pre-workshop and post-workshop surveys.

Authors

Roya Salehzadeh University of Alabama [biography]

Roya Salehzadeh obtained her B.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering from Urmia University, Iran, in 2010, and her M.Sc. degree from Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT), Tehran, Iran, in 2013. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Advanced and Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Laboratory at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA.

Ms. Salehzadeh's research interests are focused on human-robot interaction, automation, and manufacturing. She is a member of the Alabama Initiative for Manufacturing Development and Education (Alabama IMaDE), where she contributes to the development and teaching of manufacturing courses for the new Manufacturing Systems Engineering (B.S.) program at the University of Alabama.

Additionally, Ms. Salehzadeh is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).
Gustavo Galvani University of Alabama
Anahita Zargarani University of Alabama [biography]

NA
Prof. Nader Jalili University of Alabama [biography]

Dr. Nader Jalili joined Southern Methodist University (SMU) as its next Dean of Lyle School of Engineering in March 2023 from the University of Alabama where he was a Professor and Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He was formerly a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Associate Department Chair for Graduate Studies and Research, and Director of Northeastern University Piezoactive Systems Laboratory at Northeastern University. An ASME Fellow and former Chairs of both ASME Mechanical Engineering Department Heads and Chairs (MEDHC) and ASME Southeast Mechanical Engineering Department Heads (SMEDH), Dr. Jalili is an innovative leader and researcher, known for bringing the resources of engineering education and research to undergraduate and graduate students, industry partners and community outreach programs.
An active researcher, Dr. Jalili has been PI or Co-PI on more than $17 million in external funding, including grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Defense in the domain of vibration, control and acoustics. He is the author or co‐author of more than 350 peer‐refereed technical publications, including 135 journal papers, two textbooks and five book chapters. A fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Jalili has chaired numerous society committees and edited several engineering academic journals. In addition, he is the recipient of more than 30 international, national and institutional awards for his research, leadership, teaching and service.
In his four years as the Head of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alabama, Dr. Jalili led a significant increase in external research awards and enrollment as well as the creation of the Alabama Initiative on Manufacturing Development and Education (Alabama IMaDE®), designed to better prepare future highly skilled workers through a convergence of education, research and service. The Alabama Initiative has guided multiple research projects in the core areas of automation, human-robot collaboration/integration and augmentation and has partnered with numerous outreach programs to promote new career paths for middle and high school students in the region.
Dr. Daniel J. Fonseca University of Alabama

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