A Fully Integrated Corporate Experience-Based Manufacturing Education Strategy

University Of Cincinnati Main Campus, Cincinnati OH

Investigators

Abstract

This planning grant will fund department level reform the manufacturing program at the University of Cincinnati. The approach is to place students in a virtual corporate setting, where classes are linked to job functions and the curriculum becomes a form of job rotation exposing students to traditional theory with links to practical applications. The central hypothesis and of the proposed activities is that a virtual manufacturing corporation can unify and energize the curricula motivating students and faculty to learn, provide a mechanism for addressing industry wants and needs, and can be marketed to K-12 students and teachers. In this planning project, the goal is to restructure the entire manufacturing curriculum so that it can be mapped into a virtual corporate structure supported by an information technology based integration mechanism. A corporate oversight panel will be established, along with a framework for eliciting and integrating corporate and K-12 suggestions and feedback, taking advantage of the existing Co-Op program. Finally, evaluation and accountability guidelines will be developed along with activities to prepare other faculty members for strategy implementation.