Collaboration Of Midwest Professionals for Logistics Engineering Technology Education Project

The supply chain, or logistics, industry continues to grow in the Midwest region of the United States. Jobs in this industry are also becoming more dependent on technologies such as predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, and robotics. Nearly 15,000 transportation and warehousing businesses are located across the cities of Columbus, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; and Chicago, Illinois. The ongoing growth helps support and strengthen the logistics industry in this regional economy. As a result, there is an increasing need for logistics engineering technicians in the region. In this project, a grouping of community colleges who are leaders in the logistics field in this Midwest region will be formed. The project will be led by Columbus State Community College, Oakton Community College, and Sinclair Community College. It will seek to build career pathways in logistics engineering technology for students, encourage more students to complete degrees in this field, develop faculty experience on the latest technologies, and improve the technical skills of graduates. The goal will be to provide highly-skilled logistics engineering technicians to support the regional and national needs of the supply chain sector. 

The project will aim to improve technician education to support the increasingly complex technology needs of the supply chain sector while connecting graduates to employment opportunities in a variety of logistics industries. This project will work with employers, industry experts, and colleges to establish an innovation network. The network of partners will identify and create educational resources for emerging skills and technologies within the sector. The existing logistics curriculum at Columbus State Community College combines technology applications with engineering systems and integrates them with supply chain operations. This curriculum will be enhanced to integrate new topics in data-driven analytics and networking systems. The adapted curriculum will also be implemented and tested at the partnering institutions. The network infrastructure will inform and regularly evaluate efforts in curriculum and career pathway development; in providing professional development material and trainings for high school and college faculty; and on the use of prior learning assessments for adult and returning learners, particularly veterans and recent graduates in need of new skills for the ever-changing logistics job market. Results will be widely disseminated through an interactive project website, through publications, and at regional and national conferences.