2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Analysis of Engineering Undergraduates’ Confidence with Hands-on Tasks – Preparation for Collaborative Manufacturing Environments in the Era of Industry 4.0

Presented at Design in Engineering Education Division (DEED) Technical Session 7

Many engineering students are expected to become skilled and experienced in solving practical hands-on projects before they graduate. For students without formal engineering experiences (co-ops, internships, full/part-time jobs) this is often achieved through courses such as capstone design, cornerstone design, and in labs. The need for engineers with hands-on exposure will only increase as we experience a revitalization of manufacturing in the United States and the emergence of Industry 4.0. However, we currently do not know students' hands-on ability as it varies between majors and students in the context of Industry 4.0. To address this, a survey of engineering students who are interested in manufacturing is necessary to assess their readiness for hands-on projects in manufacturing settings.

This paper presented an analysis of engineering students' perception towards hands-on tasks in manufacturing environments. In a study with students who expressed interest in manufacturing, we collect qualitative interview data from 30 students across four engineering majors. We compare students' majors, perceptions, experience, and the courses they completed related to hands-on projects. The results suggest that many students did not feel prepared or confident to work in manufacturing environments in preparation for Industry 4.0. Further, students formal engineering experiences contributed more to their confidence in hands-on projects than curricular experiences.

Authors

Xiaoou Yang University of Georgia [biography]

Xiaoou Yang is a PhD student from College of Engineering, University of Georgia. She is also a graduate research assistant in Dr. Beshoy Morkos's Model Group. Xiaoou Yang got her bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering in May, 2019 at Florida Institut
Ashlyn Claire Floyd
Mr. Logan Alexander Smith University of Georgia [biography]

Logan Smith was born in Athens, GA and raised in Marietta, GA. He received his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from UGA in 2022 and is currently pursuing a Masters of Science in Engineering with a Mechanical Engineering emphasis at UGA under the advisement of Dr. Beshoy Morkos. He won the NSF/ASME Student Design Essay Competition as well as the CIE Poster Competition at ASME IDETC/CIE 2022. Logan is currently pursuing a research interest in Human-AI interaction. Outside of engineering, he enjoys live music events, football, gaming, and traveling.
Dr. Beshoy Morkos http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6656-3610 University of Georgia [biography]

Beshoy Morkos is an associate professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia where he directs MODEL (Manufacturing Optimization, Design, and Engineering Education Lab) Group. His research group currently explores the areas of system design, manufacturing, and their respective education. His system design research focuses on developing computational representation and reasoning support for managing complex system design through the use of Model Based approaches. The goal of Dr. Morkos’ manufacturing research is to fundamentally reframe our understanding and utilization of product and process representations and computational reasoning capabilities to support the development of models which help engineers and project planners intelligently make informed decisions. On the engineering education front, Dr. Morkos’ research explores means to improve persistence and diversity in engineering education by leveraging students’ design experiences.

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