Industry 4.0 Skills for Manufacturing Technicians: Adjusting Engineering Technology Programs to Respond to Industry Identified Skills

The National Science Foundation project Updating Florida's ET Career Pathways for Industry 4.0 Engagement was concluded on December 31, 2025 and its final report submitted in March 2026.  This project was led by FLATE (PI, Dr. Marilyn Barger). FLATE, a former NSF-ATE-supported Center for 20 years, is now part of FloridaMakes, the Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). The U.S. MEP program is supported by the Department of Commerce. 

The grant was awarded in March 2022 to update the A.S. Engineering Technology program to include Industry 4.0 skills identified in a previous small conference grant (Future of Work Caucus) which brought Florida industries and educators together to define needed emerging manufacturing technician skills.

The grant had four highly active co-PIs: Sam Ajlani, College of Central Florida, Dr. Ron Eaglin, Daytona State College, Dr. Mori Toosi, Polk State College, and Dr. Sidney Martin, St. Petersburg College. They enthusiastically promoted engagement from twenty Florida College System colleges offering Engineering Technology in all aspects of this work. Additional recognition for their contributions goes to Dr. Jay Patterson and Susan Frandsen of St. Johns River College, and Shirley Dobbins of Hillsborough College.

This grant has successfully executed its grant-stated goals, promoted national awareness of Florida’s 2-year Engineering Technology degree program, and allocated its resources to support their continued success. The project had several goal areas with significant outcomes. 

The first goal was to determine the specific Industry 4.0 skills needed by the manufacturing industry in Florida. This goal required reviewing recent industry survey responses by having the 2-year college faculty who teach these skills review the responses, identify those that they already cover in some courses, and determine which of the industry responses were most important in their region. These data were collected from the twenty Florida Colleges that offer Engineering Technology A.S. degree programs and aggregated and analyzed. The outcomes included skills related to data (e.g., logging, visualization and interpretation) industrial networking and practical knowledge of cybersecurity hygiene. These topics would be included in a revision of the state level curriculum frameworks for the AS Engineering Technology degree. These frameworks do not define specific courses, but rather the skills that students must become proficient in (they can be taught in any appropriate course using new modules or units). The new standards were written by grant personnel, approved by the colleges and submitted to, and approved by the Florida Department of Career and Adult Education. College faculty are identifying which courses in their programs will include these topics and are developing appropriate curriculum modules. Important outcomes of this process: that it included all stakeholders, had a high level of participation throughout, and the collaborative nature of the work.

A second goal area focused on providing professional development for those faculty that need it for teaching the new skills needed. FLATE partners with Florida ET faculty, ATE experts and industry partners to provide educator professional development. It also leverages equipment at various college partners. For this project, FLATE hosted the NYcTE National Center for 2 workshops (Cybersecurity for Manufacturing and Implications of AI for Education). We also engaged with the Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group (MTDG) and FloridaMakes to develop tools for teaching and implementing edge computing capabilities in the 2-year Engineering Technology programs. With that foundation, we extended the edge computing workshop to shift to a smaller and more affordable microcontroller (Raspberry Pi) platform. Additionally, a small cohort of faculty worked through a series of five in-person workshops to upgrade their programmable logic controller programming skills. All the workshops above involved hands-on training. These hands-on workshops were complemented with several in-person and virtual technical webinars, presentations and demonstrations during the grant period.

This project’s third major goal area was to engage more industry partners with the colleges across the state. We did this by standing up a statewide industry advisory board (SETIAB – Statewide Engineering Technology Industrial Advisory Board) with the approval of the Florida Department of Education and a small industry focus group drawn from college local advisory boards. This small group developed a draft of the state board’s mission and operating “charter”. Industry members were recruited from local program advisory boards. The SETIAB meets in conjunction with the bi-annual Engineering Technology Forum (ET Forum) meetings. It convenes ET college faculty, program coordinators, vendors, and industry at different colleges around the state. A new SETIAB website highlights members of the SETIAB (https://fl-ate.org/setiab/). It is hoped that the SETIAB will elevate industry’s awareness of the ET program and encourage more manufacturers to engage with their local college program and this statewide advisory board.

To share the project’s work, the team engaged in many outreach and dissemination activities. These included several referred conference proceeding papers, presentations and posters at conferences including the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), High Impact Technology Exchange (HITEC), the NSF ATE PI, Florida Association of Career and Technical Education (FACTE), the Florida Career Pathways Network (FCPN) and others. The project also produced videos highlighting the new curriculum, faculty, the ET colleges and the SETIAB. Presentations, papers, workshop materials, and posters are available at https://fl-ate.org/updating-floridas-et-pathways/ and the video series at https://flate-grant-spotlight.lovable.app/.

 

Supporting Pipeline Development — FLATE Serves as Special Projects Judge at K–12 STEM Fairs

Across Florida, K–12 STEM and science fairs are doing more than showcasing student projects — they are building the future workforce. These events give students the opportunity to explore real-world challenges, apply critical thinking skills, and present their ideas to industry and education professionals.

The State Science & Engineering Fair of Florida will take place March 31–April 2, 2026, in Lakeland, bringing together top student innovators from across the state. For many participants, this state-level competition represents the culmination of months of research, experimentation, and problem-solving — and for some, it opens the door to national opportunities.

Click here to learn more about being a judge at the state competition! There are many manufacturing-related categories to choose from.

FLATE proudly served as a Special Projects Judge at the K–12 Regional STEM Fairs in Hillsborough County and Pinellas County in February 2026.

More than 800 students representing 305 schools presented innovative projects spanning engineering, robotics, environmental sciences, and emerging technologies. The winning Special Project received prize funding and scholarship support generously provided by the Bay Area Manufacturers Association (BAMA), along with other dedicated local and national partners.

Why Participation Matters

STEM fairs are a powerful entry point into high-demand fields like advanced manufacturing, engineering, and technology by:

• Building confidence and communication skills
• Strengthening problem-solving and technical abilities
• Connecting students with industry professionals, and
• Inspiring career exploration at an early age.

How the Process Works

While guidelines vary by district, most STEM fairs follow a similar pathway:

1. School-Level Fair: Students develop independent research or engineering projects during the school year.
2. District/Regional Fair: Top projects advance to a county or regional competition and are evaluated by volunteer judges.
3. Judging & Awards: Projects are reviewed within discipline categories and may receive medals, scholarships, or advancement opportunities.
4. State Advancement: Exceptional projects move on to compete at the State Science & Engineering Fair of Florida.

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FLATE encourages educators to continue fostering inquiry-based learning in the classroom, students to challenge themselves by participating, and community and industry partners to serve as mentors, sponsors, and judges.

When education and industry collaborate, we strengthen Florida’s STEM pipeline and help students see themselves as the next generation of innovators, engineers, and advanced manufacturing leaders.

Florida Students Shine at NSF ATE PI Conference

The annual NSF ATE Principal Investigator Conference, hosted by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) was held in Washington, D.C. the last week of October.  Two Engineering Technology students from Polk State College participated in the conference and wowed many attendees with their poster presentation “Industry 4.0 Integration”. The Polk State team collaborated with a team from the Instituto Tecnológico de Mérida, Mexico. The project connected real-time OT and IT data systems to enhance cross-cultural learning and develop smart manufacturing competencies across international teams. 

Click on their poster to learn more. Over fifty student posters from advanced technology programs across the country filled the Regency Ballroom at the Omni Shoreham Hotel the afternoon of October 28.

The students, sponsored by the NSF ATE grants at their colleges and supported by the annual conference, are an integral part of the conference program, showcasing the highly skilled technician graduates from these programs. In addition to their poster presentation, the students meet with attending industry representatives, attend plenary sessions, visit D.C. museums, and are recognized by the conference organizers and faculty during an awards breakfast. It’s a proud moment for the student and their mentors alike as we anticipate them taking their roles in today’s advanced technology workplaces and moving into leadership positions.

Dr. DeRionne Pollard, President & CEO, AACC, also presented Jasmine Brown, with an AACC award for excellence at the conference. Jasmine stated that for her, the highlight of the conference was presenting their Global Industry 4.0 Skills Development project and sharing the impact of their cross-border collaboration. 

"It was inspiring to engage with educators, researchers, and industry professionals who each offered different perspectives on Industry 4.0. Some described their institutions as still transitioning through Industry 3.0, while others felt they were on the evolving edge of technological transformation. Hearing these diverse experiences helped me see how the adoption of smart manufacturing and digital integration varies widely across regions, yet we all share the same goal of preparing the next generation of skilled technicians and engineers". 

- Jasmine Brown

In addition to hosting a booth display at the ATE Connects showcase session, the FLATE team attending the conference presented an Innovation Demonstration, “Preparing Operation Technicians for Process Control in Industry 4.0 Workspace”. This fast-paced session focused on using a hands-on simulated antenna system to enforce PID (proportional, integral, differential) control models in Industry 4.0 environments. 

 This activity, including a component list, video, and instructions, will be available on the FLATE website in the coming months and will be announced in the monthly FLATE Focus newsletter.

Reducing Student Barriers to Manufacturing Careers

In October 2025, Mechanism (formerly the Urban Manufacturing Alliance) and The Century Foundation hosted the Industry & Inclusion (I&I) South Fall Gathering in Tampa at Hillsborough Community College (HCC). This was the second in-person meeting for this group, which includes workforce leaders, educators, and changemakers from across the American South. The cohort meetings provide the opportunity to reaffirm their dedication to addressing barriers in manufacturing workforce development at their institutions, focusing on fairness, access, and opportunity.

The intimate gathering was hosted by the Engineering Technology program at Hillsborough College (Thank you Shirley Dobbins!) and featured breakout sessions, coaching, and peer-led discussions that sparked honest conversations about the realities of implementing programs in a rapidly changing political and economic environment. Participants explored practical strategies, from overcoming transportation and enrollment barriers to building partnerships with K-12 schools and engaging parents more meaningfully. 

Dr. Barger, Senior Educational Advisor at FLATE (Florida Advanced Technological Education Center), presented on how colleges can better engage in regional economic development activities, based on work supported by the National Science Foundation in collaboration with Rutgers University’s Education and Employment Research Center (EERC).

During the meeting, participants emphasized the need to “push through the pause,” keep momentum even when external conditions change, and design systems that adapt without losing sight of the core mission: expanding opportunity for all students.

The cohort team from St. Petersburg College (SPC) is working on a project to expand opportunities for students who are not comfortable or confident with their math skills which can make engagement and ultimately success in manufacturing programs challenging.  The cohort is developing manufacturing-relevant materials to make math more meaningful and accessible for all incoming students.  Andres Valencia-Cardenas and Brian Bell from SPC will offer short student workshops sharing the materials that will ultimately become available online for others.

As the I&I South cohort nears its conclusion, the sense of possibility remains strong. Participants left the gathering motivated to carry this work forward not just within their own institutions, but through a broader, sustained community of practice. There is real momentum to build on the foundation laid at this event. One attendee reflected, “This is more than a program, it’s a calling. We’re not just building pathways, we’re building belief.”