2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Bridging the Skills Gap: Developing a Smart Manufacturing Engineering Technology Concentration for the Future Workforce

Presented at Engineering Technology Division (ETD) Technical Session 2

The face of manufacturing has been changing since the 1990s. There are several initiatives to revitalize the traditional manufacturing processes, while there is a big interest in increasing the adaptation and implementation of modern manufacturing techniques like Smart Manufacturing (SM) and Industry 4.0. The integration of advanced technologies like Data Analytics (DA), Internet of Things (IoTs), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Digital Twins (DT), Mixed Reality (MR), Additive Manufacturing (AM), and Control Techniques into manufacturing is a new concept, and that is called SM. Overall, SM integrates all these advanced technologies to enhance productivity, efficiency, and quality in production processes. Lately, universities have been creating degree programs on SM to prepare their students for current and near-future workforces in the manufacturing industry. This paper presents the current gap that the Smart Manufacturing Engineering Technology (SMET) concentration addresses. Specifically, why is this concentration essential for the future workforce? How does it address specific challenges in manufacturing education? It will present a currently developed SMET concentration under an Engineering Technology (ET) program.

Authors

Dr. Ismail Fidan http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4233-1049 Tennessee Technological University [biography]

Currently, Dr. Fidan serves as a Professor of the Department of Manufacturing and Engineering Technology at Tennessee Technological University. His research and teaching interests are in additive manufacturing, electronics manufacturing, distance learning.
Dr. Kumar Yelamarthi http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0072-3909 Tennessee Technological University [biography]

Kumar Yelamarthi received his Ph.D. and M.S degree from Wright State University in 2008 and 2004, and B.E. from University of Madras, India in 2000. He is currently the Associate Dean and Professor in the College of Engineering at Tennessee Tech University. In the past, he served as the Director for School of Engineering and Technology, and Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and at Central Michigan University (CMU). He served as the chair for Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering programs, and Assistant to the Dean of College of Science and Engineering at CMU. His research interest is in the areas of Internet of Things, wireless sensor networks, edge computing, embedded systems, and engineering education. He has published over 175 articles and delivered over 100 talks in these areas. He has successfully raised several externally funded grants of over $8 Million from organizations such as NSF, Dept of Education, NASA, and the industry.

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