Role Of Manufacturing Programs In Engineering Workforce Development

The project leading to this paper was carried out as part of SME’s efforts to prepare the manufacturing curricula for the year 2015 and beyond. In doing so, it considered the role of manufacturing in the global economy, the factors affecting the scope of manufacturing, and the current efforts to revitalize manufacturing in the various parts of the world. It then reviewed the curricular models proposed to address the needs of the manufacturing industry. As an extension of the analysis, recommendations were made on the key aspects of a manufacturing curriculum with an emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship. Further, the recommendations included the creation of a flexible degree program that emphasized learning over teaching, development of a network of academic institutions around the globe to deliver the program, use of communication technologies to provide access to the program to anyone at anytime and anywhere in the world, and an outreach to future manufacturing professionals. The paper presents the results of the study.