- January 06, 2016
- Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
As part of its strategic mission to help develop a workforce capable of competing in advanced manufacturing, the Automation Federation will be exhibiting (exhibit #25) in late January at the 2016 Workforce Development Institute conference sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).
The conference, to be conducted 20-23 January 2016 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside in New Orleans, Louisiana, will bring together education leaders, manufacturing executives, and workforce and economic development experts from both government and private enterprise to assess current workforce challenges and consider new partnerships and perspectives.
Serving nearly half of the undergraduate students in the US, community colleges are a vital part of the postsecondary education delivery system. By providing open access to postsecondary education, they provide essential workforce development and skills training that would be otherwise inaccessible.
The Automation Federation has long regarded community colleges as essential for providing the community-based education and training needed to groom future automation and control professionals and engineers. For many years, it has been working with the AACC as well as individual community colleges to help expand students’ access to automation curriculum and degree programs.
In 2012, the Automation Federation worked with the AACC to establish the US Automation Community College Consortium. The member colleges that comprise the Consortium use the Automation Federation’s Automation Competency Model as the framework for developing an automation curriculum that will result in two-year degree programs in specific automation arenas and provide an educational track leading to a four-year degree program in automation, engineering, and technology.
The Automation Federation is currently working with numerous community colleges to develop automation curriculum leading to associate degrees in automation.
“The Automation Federation and the AACC have established a strong partnership around the Community College Consortium,” emphasizes Michael Marlowe, Managing Director and Director of Government Relations at the Automation Federation. “We’re confident that, by working together, we’re creating a pathway for a new generation of automation professionals that is so critical to the future of advanced manufacturing.”