We are pleased to bring you news and resources in collaboration with the NSF Advanced Technology Education (ATE) community and industry partners. We hope that this content will be useful in this time of substantial educational change. For more information about our project, please visit our website. |
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Battery Manufacturer Wants 1,000 Technicians who “Collaborate, Communicate, and Collectively Drive Problem-solving” |
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Tom Gallagher’s responsibilities include hiring 1,000 technicians to produce electric vehicle battery cells in the $2.3 billion plant that is under construction.
When the company begins production in mid-2022 Gallagher said it will employ:
- battery cell technicians who will operate all aspects of battery cell manufacturing;
- quality technicians who will do analytical work to check incoming materials, production, and completed battery cells; and
- maintenance technicians who will carry out electrical and mechanical tasks to maintain equipment and processes.
Most interesting to technical educators, says Gallagher, may be Ultium’s plan to utilize “an apprentice-type format” to educate technicians in-house. He would like technicians to have technical competency, which he defines as “application of STEM-based skills in industrial environments as well as critical thinking and the ability to work in a team environment.”
While math and science knowledge is important, Gallagher said he is most interested in how people apply their math skills in tandem with their willingness to learn, their capacity to think critically, and their personal history of collaboration. He said the company is looking for people who “collaborate, communicate, and collectively drive problem-solving.”
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Justin E. Manley, a marine technology innovator for three decades, sees many interesting, well-compensated opportunities in the ocean-based or “blue” economy for people interested in hands-on, intellectual work. “There’s lots of roles that are a good fit,” he said.
Among the challenges for technical educators is the historically low visibility of the maritime sector, and the reality that maritime technicians must combine high-tech skills with the physical and mental capabilities to thrive at sea.
“Ocean technician jobs, whether they’re robotics or instruments or similar, there’s an added level of personal challenge involved, which could come from being sea sick. It could come from sleeping in a confined space. It could come from being surrounded by different types of people. It could be useful for faculty to help their students gain exposure to such stressors or challenges outside the normal academic elements of school. That’s going to help future technicians succeed,” Manley said during a recent Zoom interview.
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From the NSF ATE Community |
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EvaluATE Announces the Launch of
New Website
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Our colleagues at EvaluATE have launched their new website featuring a number of helpful tools including:
- a re-designed home page,
- a resource library that allows you to filter by evaluation task,
- expanded descriptions of EvaluATE’s research on evaluation studies,
- an overview of ATE evaluation tasks, and
- an RSS feed for EvaluATE’s blog!
The ATE Survey also has an extended web presence, including an interactive dashboard displaying survey data from 2019 and 2020. Make sure to check it out!
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Upcoming Events and Opportunities |
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AACC Seeks Community Colleges, Individual Mentors to Participate in MentorLinks |
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MentorLinks is a program designed for community colleges seeking to develop or strengthen STEM technician education programs. Colleges should be interested in working with an experienced community college mentor who has successfully planned and implemented a major change in a high-technology program.
AACC is also seeking applications from 2-year college professionals to serve as mentors to colleges whose faculty and administration want to develop or strengthen a certificate or degree program for technicians in a STEM field. Mentors will receive an honorarium and travel support to attend national project meetings and to conduct college site visits (as permissible).
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Register for Hi-TEC 2021 Today! |
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Listen to Our Latest Podcast |
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Podcast 24: Digital Fabrication and Badges:
Training Technicians with the Right Skills
to Meet Employer Demands
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Host Mike Lesiecki with Podcast Guest
Sarah Boisvert
Founder and CEO of the Fab Lab Hub and
Co-founder of the New Collar Network
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In this episode, Sarah Boisvert shares what her research has revealed employers – particularly in manufacturing – are looking for and the new ways that operators and technicians can demonstrate skills competency. She notes that:
"As an employer, if somebody comes to me, and they tell me they have a badge in running a CNC machine, I want to know that they’ve run a CNC machine, right? That they’ve been in the trenches. And they know what to do when…like, you’re running a metals 3D printer, and it catches on fire! I want them to know what to do! I don’t want it to be a theoretical exercise…A badge program has to have currency for the student and for the employer."
Sarah also provides a number of helpful resources in the Show Notes.
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Listen and subscribe to catch up on any of our earlier podcasts. The Show Notes and Transcripts provide additional resources and activities.
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Administered by the
Center for Occupational Research and Development (CORD)
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Funding and support provided
by the
National Science Foundation
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Disclaimer: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF DUE #1839567. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. |
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