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• The NSF RET Site in Manufacturing Simulation and Automation provides cutting-edge research in manufacturing for high-school teachers and community college faculty. We are also collaborating with Penn State Behrend on this project; their Site covers the Greater Erie area.

NSF RET Site | in Manufacturing Simulation and Automation – Penn State Behrend (psu.edu) 

• RET participants spend six weeks working with the RET team, comprising of a group of faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, and industry mentors.

• Program activities include physical, computer, and virtual reality simulations of manufacturing paradigms (craft production, mass production, Lean manufacturing, mass customization, and global manufacturing) as well as automation (PLC and Robotics) and additive manufacturing.

• RET participants gain first-hand experience by participating in research activities to develop effective curriculum modules and engage their own students in authentic experiences in science and engineering.

• The RET program goals are to: 1) provide a STEM-based platform at UofL to engage high school teachers and community college instructors in state-of-the-art manufacturing research, 2) explore a sustainable educational model that connects high schools, community colleges, university, and industry to instill future generations with greater awareness and interest in manufacturing, 3) facilitate the development of curricular modules, classroom activities, and other classroom instructional materials that will be implemented in the participating schools and colleges and also disseminated to a broader audience nationally, and 4) help fill the skills gap in U.S. manufacturing and prepare school and college students in the Louisville metropolitan area for undergraduate studies and/or jobs in manufacturing.