(August 2024) After spending the past three months partipating in project-related training and working through curriculum updates, PI Baker is excited to finish wrapping up the wiring of new student work stations in the lab!
Baker will have students at work stations starting Day 1 of the fall semester, and is revolutionizing how the coursework is taught by using the lab as the classroom - as opposed to moving between traditional classroom and lab space. This makes the course activities more interactive for both instructor and student, allowing for on-the-spot teaching and learning in a dynamic way.
(Sept 2025) PI Baker's project is continuing to prepare new students to enter the workforce with Industry 4.0 skills aligned with regional workforce needs. The project's updated curriculum with embedded certifications, new equipment, and stronger relationships with industry are allowing Baker to guide students to new career option in high tech industrial maintenance.
(July 2023) A three-year, NSF-ATE funded project at West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) will update the Advanced Manufacturing curriculum to meet the needs of area manufacturers. The overall goal of the project is to better prepare students to enter the STEM workforce with industry-aligned classwork, while meeting area industry need for digitally-skilled Advanced Manufacturing technicians.
The project will utilize an advisory team which includes industry partners to align curriculum with industry need. Students will benefit from revised training relevant to the Advanced Manufacturing environment and earn nationally-recognized, stackable industry certifications in 24 months or less. Faculty associated with the project will benefit from professional development with updated equipment and teaching methods.
Because WKCTC has a high population of rural students who are underrepresented in their pursuit of STEM pathways, this project has the potential to broaden participation in the STEM workforce and generate new knowledge on the degree to which revised teaching methods and stronger industry and K-12 partnerships prepare students for industry employment.
The project will update and enhance technician training courses specific to advanced sensors, robotics, and artificial intelligence systems. Six principle activities provide a framework for the project's execution.
First is the provision to WKCTC faculty of training so they are qualified to teach latest-generation Industry 4.0 technology curriculum. Second is updating existing Electrical, Industrial Maintenance, and Air Conditioning Technology courses to meet industry standards. Third is to add and embed relevant, nationally recognized industry certifications into coursework. Fourth is updating student lab equipment to align with what is being used by regional employers, and fifth is to engage industry partners in curriculum design and student learning. Sixth, and finally, is offering annual workshops for high school partners to increase awareness of programs, training, and career options in Industry 4.0 available to their students.
(October 2023) - Following Tim Driver's retirement, Rayla Trigg has been named Co-PI of the project. Trigg will work closely with PI Baker to achieve project goals and objectives, while adhering to the project timeline. Trigg is well-acquainted with the project plan, having assisted in its development in her primary role as WKCTC Grants Specialist.
Co-PI Trigg has an extensive background in business administration, having worked primarily in Business and Industry throughout her career. She also has a decade of university level classroom instruction experience.
(April 2024) In preparation for making curriculum updates, PI Jonathan Baker is reading PLC and HMI Programming Using Studio 5000® and FactoryTalk® View by Wade Wittmus.
This book explains the basic concepts and procedures used to navigate the software and create PLC instructions and touchscreen applications.
Wittmus' book will help PI Baker construct updates to course lab exercises using NSF-funded PLC and robotics project equipment to simulate real-world technician responsibilities in the region's advanced manufacturing facilities.
(July 2024) The WKCTC NSF-ATE grant project is required to have an external evaluator. An external evaluator is a qualified individual who is independent from the college, has no conflicts of interest, and is hired by the project to assess and analyze the effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of a project. The external evaluator is a impartial observer who determines what will be evaluated, what and how criteria will be used to indicate project success, and assists in making mid-course adjustments to reach project goals and objectives.
The project team is very fortunate to work with external evaluator Dr. Diana Pollard McCauley Williams of Evaluation & Grant Support Collaborative (EGSC). Diana is an independent education administrator whose professional experience includes teaching, administration, educational sales, consulting, and grant evaluations. For almost two decades, she has served as a grant evaluator of projects funded by the US Departments of Education and Labor, the National Science Foundation, and private organizations. Diana has long been on the front line of educational, political, and youth-focused projects, garnering recognition for her service from numerous entities.
Dr. Ryan Quarles, new President of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, visits the WKCTC Advanced Manufacturing Lab. During the visit PI Jonathan Baker speaks with Dr. Quarles about our NSF-ATE award to update our Industrial Maintenance Technology curriculum – and Dr. Quarles takes notes!
Dr. Quarles knows the value of our NSF-funded project, as manufacturing is a top industry across Kentucky. He is also well positioned as KCTCS President to advocate for projects such as ours, as he previously served in the Kentucky House of Representatives for five years (2011-2016) and as the Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky for eight years (2016-2024). Support from our state legislators is important; we need them to know we are aware of state and local workforce needs and how we are working to meet those needs through our project.
Others in attendance include: WKCTC President/CEO Dr. Anton Reece, VP of Academic Affairs Dr. Renea Akin, Associate VP of Academic Affairs Dr. Kate Senn, VP Campus Operations Services Shay Nolan, Director of Marketing & Communications Whitney Walker, Director of Community, Workforce & Economic Development Ashley Burns, Public Relations Assistant Kathy McHaney, and Co-PI/Grants Specialist Rayla Trigg.
(October 2024) The 2024 Advanced Technological Education Conference is held annually in Washington, D.C. The 2024 conference brought together more than 850 NSF ATE grantees and their project partners to focus on the critical issues related to advanced technological education. Key people working on ATE projects across the country participated in this year's event, including our project PI and Co-PI. Conference participants represent community colleges, business and industry, secondary school systems, and four-year colleges covering projects in a wide variety of areas, such as advanced manufacturing, information technology, engineering technology, micro- and nanotechnologies, chemical technology, biotechnology, and more.
Educators from seven regional school districts took part in an Industrial Maintenance workshop on campus last week, learning more about modern industrial maintenance techniques and careers.
The workshop, led by Jonathan Baker, Program Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Advanced Manufacturing at WKCTC, offered the teachers beginner hands-on learning activities demonstrating how industrial maintenance has evolved into a dynamic, technology-driven field offering high-paying, in-demand careers. Through the workshop the teachers gained insights into training programs and career pathways available to their students-especially those who may not have considered technical careers before.
The 16 participants represented school in Calloway, Carlisle, Fulton, Graves, Lyon and McCracken Counties in Kentucky, and Massac County in Illinois, as well as a participant from the Greater Paducah Economic Development Counsel. The Caterpillar and Independent Stave companies were also represented.
The idea for the workshop piece of the WKCTC award came from previously-funded NSF-ATE projects at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College (A-B Tech), Skilled Workers Get Jobs DUE 1204797, 1501535, 1800920 carried out 2013-2021.
(March 2025) 100% of IMT Students Pass First Embedded Industry 4.0 SACA Certification Exam
WKCTC Industrial Maintenance Technology Program Coordinator Jonathan Baker announces that all students in his fall semester Advanced Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) class recently passed a special smart automation certification exam new to his program. Baker has been working to embed new Industry 4.0 specialist certifications into Industrial Maintenance Technology (IMT) coursework as part of a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF-ATE) grant awarded in 2023.
The Smart Automation Certification Alliance (SACA) is an industry-recognized certification program designed by industry for industry. By passing a SACA certification exam, students earned a “micro credential” demonstrating they are prepared to program, configure, adjust, monitor, and operated industrial programmable logic controller systems.
According to Baker, “Industry-recognized certification are important for students because they enhance employability by demonstrating competency. These SACA certifications are relevant because they show a prospective employer that students are prepared to think critically and solve the problems they will encounter in today’s industrial automation workplace.”
The top five skills increasingly required in industrial maintenance are PLC programming, data analytics, cybersecurity, robotics maintenance, and 3D printing. The IMT program provides students with a broad range of skills for efficient and effective maintenance of modern industrial systems.
Pictured at left: Tim Driver, Industrial Maintenance Technology Program Coordinator/Professor & Jonathan Baker, Advanced Manufacturing Technology Assistant Professor. As Principal Investigator (PI), Baker will initiate the performance of all project activities at both campuses and lead the implementation of activities. Co-Principal Investigator Driver will assist Baker in carrying out project activities.
