2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engagement in Practice: Bridging the Gap between Industry, Universities, and K-12 Outreach

Presented at Community and Industry Collaboration for Sustainable Development

Workforce development has become a central focus in the United States as we move toward manufacturing products locally and the advancement and accessibility of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies that will fundamentally alter the future of work. However, there exists a disconnect between industry, institutes of higher education, and K-12 formal and informal education that can cause all entities to feel frustrated by the lack of progress toward building a future-ready workforce despite good intentions. Many existing programs across entities are attempting to address the needs of a future workforce, but often these programs act in isolation and do not capitalize on potential synergies. For example, potential industry partners may not be aware of existing educational programming in K-12 and/or institutes of higher education and how to meaningfully engage with those programs to influence their direction and support career awareness. Similarly, educational entities may not be able to keep up with the evolving needs of industry and future jobs, while each may offer their own training and upskilling programs without benefit of collaboration.

This paper captures the results of a workshop facilitated by faculty and staff from two universities, _____and _____, at a Digital Manufacturing conference focused on industry leaders. The workshop provides guidance and information about existing educational initiatives and the opportunities for community and industry engagement, while also fielding and summarizing input from industry leaders regarding their challenges around workforce development and community engagement. With IRB approval, discussions and key findings from this workshop will be analyzed qualitatively using grounded theory to elicit key themes and define gaps and opportunities for future research in the area of workforce development. Actionable outcomes for building meaningful partnerships and ecosystems spanning community, industry, and educational entities will be provided.

Authors

Jasmine N Patel http://orcid.org/0009-0009-3712-7519 Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Jasmine Patel is a Research Associate at Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC). She specializes in invention education and informal STEM learning within K-12 settings. Her work involves research into the implementation and effects of educational interventions. In her role, Jasmine collaborates with a diverse group of K-12 students, educators, and administrators to develop and execute research and evaluation strategies focused on invention and science education.
Dr. Nathan W. Hartman Purdue University at West Lafayette (PWL) (COE) [biography]

Dr. Nathan W. Hartman is the Dauch Family Professor of Advanced Manufacturing in the School of Engineering Technology at Purdue University, Director of the Digital Enterprise Center, and Director of the Indiana Manufacturing Competitiveness Center (IN-MaC) at West Lafayette. Professor Hartman’s research areas focus on the digital transformation of the manufacturing enterprise; tools and methods for model-based definition creation and use in design, production, and sustainment environments; and data interoperability and standards. Funding for his research has come from a variety of sources, such as NSF, DoD, DoE, the MxD and CyManII federal manufacturing institutes, NIST, and the federally-funded projects for hypersonics and energetic materials at Purdue, as well as industrial partners at Rolls Royce, Cummins, Boeing, GM, Ford Motor Company, Collins Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Textron, Gulfstream, Procter & Gamble, GM, Honda, and others. Professor Hartman has served on various national and international standards development committees related to digital methods and tools supporting product lifecycle data interoperability. Prior to his time at Purdue University, Professor Hartman worked in industry for over eight years at Fairfield Manufacturing, Caterpillar, and Rand Worldwide. Professor Hartman holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Purdue University and a Doctorate from North Carolina State University.
Alisa Deck [biography]

Lisa works with employers, schools, students, and community stakeholders to scale up and sustain critical programs around careers in all sectors while emphasizing the professional and technical skills necessary to succeed in the workforce. Lisa's passion is working to build our future workforce by providing foundational skills and ensuring everyone has the information required to be successful.

Lisa is the Education Workforce Program Manager for Purdue Polytechnic's Indiana Next Generation Manufacturing Competitiveness Center (IN-MaC), as a program manager and is the owner of T3 Workforce Development and Process Improvement. She has been an adjunct professor with Purdue University, teaching Organizational Leadership (OLS) and Supervision and Technology Leadership and Innovation (TLI) since 2009.
She has been teaching and training since 1992.
Lisa has 35 years of experience in workforce development and education.
Roxanne A. Moore Ph.D. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0536-4957 Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Roxanne Moore is currently a Principal Research Engineer at Georgia Tech with appointments in the Center for Education Integrating Mathematics, Science, and Computing (CEISMC) and Mechanical Engineering. She has spent her 12+ year research faculty career focusing on broadening participation in STEM and creating novel learning experiences for students all over the world. Dr. Moore focuses on empowering students with a STEM toolbox so they can design their own future. She has served in leadership roles on over $17M in grants from sponsors including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Economic Development Agency, the Lemelson Foundation, Amazon, and Google and has co-authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications.

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