Nancy Louwagie, Thomas Johnson, John Lasswell, Normandale Community College, Bloomington, MN
Normandale Community College offers a 2-year AAS degree and certificate programs in Vacuum and Thin Film Technology for technician education. Through a series of projects funded by the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF-ATE) program, Normandale’s Vacuum Technology faculty and staff have introduced, evaluated and adopted significant changes related to its vacuum and thin film technology program curriculum and the program’s delivery modes. These changes have enhanced the program’s ability to reach and engage new students. Many of these students are incumbent workers who are already working in the field using vacuum systems. In the current NSF funded project, Normandale faculty are developing a new curriculum that integrates instruction of foundational skills in automation with vacuum system operations. This curriculum will address skills development related to using documentation in support of maintenance and troubleshooting activities; setting up and testing the electrical interface between a controller, input and output (I/O) devices, and the system’s pumps, gauges, valves and other instrumentation; and creating a simple human machine interface (HMI) program that automates vacuum system functions. The course learning outcomes have been reviewed by the program’s advisory group participants and updated based on their feedback. This new curriculum which links automation skills with vacuum system operations is intended to support upskilling/reskilling incumbent workers.