Leadership Capacity Building for Manufacturing and Manufacturing-related Programs

Sinclair Community College along with its educational and industry partners, is conducting this project to build leadership capacity for faculty in manufacturing and manufacturing-related programs at community colleges and high schools.

The project is based on up-to-date research on teaching and learning, and the problems experienced by US community college manufacturing technology programs, as well as studies by Society for Manufacturing engineers (SME). The project takes into consideration the rapid knowledge change in the manufacturing sector within the framework of the Four Pillars of Manufacturing Knowledge: Materials and Processes; Product, Tooling and Assembly; System and Operators; and Competitiveness. Project activities include: 1) providing a comprehensive 100-hour leadership capacity building program for three cohorts of instructional leaders; 2) conducting expanded pre-college outreach focused on manufacturing careers; 3) disseminating information and resources to postsecondary faculty members and high school teachers.

The project has the potential to have a significant impact on the preparation of the next generation workforce in advanced manufacturing. It is preparing 80 manufacturing related educators to lead their manufacturing curriculum aligned with the Society for Manufacturing Engineers approved manufacturing education standards. The participants represent 30 institutions (20 two-year degree offering institutions and an additional 10 secondary institutions) and the program is affecting an estimated 1,000 students seeking two-year manufacturing related degrees and an estimated 500 pre-college students per year.