2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Industry 4.0 is a new paradigm in the technology world. Given the labor shortages and growing demand for high quality and precision in products, the need for intelligent and smart manufacturing is more than ever. The global trend indicates the next generation workforce should be able to work collaboratively with technology. Students who aspire to work in/with industry need to adapt to the new technologies before they join the workforce. Albeit the need to incorporate Industry 4.0 skillset in students, not all universities have adequate resources in this pursuit. Meanwhile, a contingency plan of incorporating research problems within the realm of Industry 4.0 in the coursework will assist students in gaining skills and familiarize themselves with Industry 4.0. In addition, it enables students to stay contemporary with the industry standards.

Through this project a set of research problems in the realm of Industry 4.0 are presented to the students. Research problems are selected broadly from the domain of Industry 4.0 which includes current and emerging technologies. Students are also given the opportunity to select the topics, however, they need to receive the instructor’s approval. During the project, students conduct literature reviews on the selected topics. The cohort size of the pilot class is 23 students; ten teams with two students each, and one team with three students. The objectives and deliverables of the project are clearly stated in advance to keep students informed. The objective of this project is to incorporate Industry 4.0 skills and knowledge to the students in addition to learn the methods to stay current in industry. The project deliverables are (1) students will present their work to the rest of the class, and (2) submit a reflective paper on their experience. This paper will discuss the setup of research problems, survey results of the student experience before and after working on the project, and summary of findings on the student experience from the reflective papers. Reflective papers work as a tool both to summarize the student experience and for continuous improvement in context with this project for future studies.