4

Support for Undergraduate Engineering Education

Chapters 2 and 3 outlined changes universities can make to undergraduate engineering programs to better equip graduates with advanced manufacturing knowledge and skills. Some of these changes can be aided by support from industry and/or government, both of which have long and important histories of supporting engineering education. The committee now summarizes, in broad strokes, the ways that industry and government currently support engineering education and suggests ways these mechanisms can be adjusted to increase focus on advanced manufacturing. The committee then discusses options that are either new or distinct from current practice.

CURRENT GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION AND ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

Both government and industry have long recognized the value of manufacturing to the health of the economy and of the country as well as the value of undergraduate engineering education to the health of manufacturing, which is why both entities have a history of supporting and improving manufacturing-related engineering education. This section reviews that support in

order to offer some background with which to understand the committee’s recommendations on ways to expand and extend that support.

Industry Support

Industry depends on university-educated engineers as employees either of a particular company or of the company’s vendors and customers who also employ engineers. Companies band together in industry associations to support objectives of their industrial sector, including education and workforce development (EWD). A large employer in a region may support local university and college education to improve the quality of life in the region, especially for its employees.

Industry support of undergraduate education includes student scholarships, fellowships, and summer internship employment; sponsorship of experiential activities such as capstone course projects; competitive design and construction projects, such as solar-powered vehicles; donation of equipment and software for laboratories; and contribution of the time of company engineers to serve as mentors or advisors to undergraduate programs. Industry builds undergraduate awareness and excitement in engineering through talks, videos, and site visits.¹ Companies often engage in collaborative research projects in which academic faculty and students work on a problem whose solution may directly benefit the sponsor. Undergraduates working on these collaborations derive educational benefit, as outlined in the “Translational Research” section of Chapter 3.

While these forms of support apply to many different engineering disciplines, they can all be targeted to apply preferentially to advanced manufacturing. Capstone project support can be contingent on pursuing the project through its manufacturing phase, which might use advanced manufacturing technologies. Or a company could negotiate with a faculty member to do research on a new material for additive manufacturing, even involving undergraduates in the research. Engineers from industry who are experienced in advanced manufacturing can serve as valuable advisors to engineering courses, teaching about or using advanced manufacturing. A company could donate industrial-quality additive manufacturing equipment that it uses in its factory so that students can learn to use it and perhaps develop improvements.

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¹ O.A. Owolabi, 2016, “Effective Learning Activities and Tool Adopted in an Online Engineering Class,” Transactions on Techniques in STEM Education in USA 2(1):97–106.

Government Support

The U.S. government supports undergraduate engineering education as part of a broad agenda to enhance the country’s economic development and competitiveness and to ensure national security. Global competition and offshoring of innovative technologies have, in the past few decades, led to concern about the country’s manufacturing capacity. The Department of Defense (DoD) Manufacturing Technology Program (ManTech) invests on several fronts, including education and workforce development, to strengthen U.S. manufacturing.² Government funding of manufacturing research and development (R&D), through the National Science Foundation (NSF), mission agencies (DoD, the Department of Energy [DOE], the National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]), and others (e.g., the National Institute of Standards and Technology [NIST]) supports academic research, which is often an opportunity for undergraduates to engage and learn.

As with industry support, government support can target advanced manufacturing. NSF’s Engineering Directorate supports advanced manufacturing research, and a new Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP), will emphasize translational (or applied) research; advanced manufacturing is a priority. NSF also supports manufacturing curriculum development, for example, in the Division of Undergraduate Education, often supporting collaborations among educational institutions and industry. DoD, through its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs), focuses manufacturing investment on advanced manufacturing.

Support Through Partnerships

Industry, government, and academia have formed a number of partnerships to work together, acknowledging the linkages that connect the three components and the strengths that each can contribute to manufacturing. Government represents the national mission; industry represents specific innovations, technologies, and challenges; and academia represents the research and education necessary to advance knowledge and talent. Collaborative research is a common form of partnership. DoD, DOE, and NIST collaborate at least 50/50 with industry to support 16 institutes (including

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² Department of Defense (DoD) Manufacturing Technology Program, “Education and Workforce Development,” https://www.dodmantech.mil/Education-and-Workforce-Development, accessed September 27, 2022.

MIIs, mentioned above) in the Manufacturing USA public–private partnership. Each institute focuses on a different advanced manufacturing technology, offering technical materials, training, assistance to companies building advanced manufacturing capacity, and applied research projects.

Summary of Current and Augmented Support

The support mechanisms summarized above all contribute to undergraduate engineering education. Some, such as the innovation institutes, emphasize advanced manufacturing. Others, such as the numerous programs that fund applied research, could amplify support for advanced manufacturing topics without requiring new funding or support pathways. There are many opportunities in the existing pathways to augment undergraduate engineering education for advanced manufacturing. Tables 4-1 to 4-5 and the short summaries below review the support mechanisms and suggest further augmentations and adjustments by various entities—industry, federal government, state and local governments, and professional societies.

Specific ways in which industry can augment its support include the following: sponsoring and engaging in collaborative applied research projects on advanced manufacturing topics, employing student interns and offering them assignments in advanced manufacturing, sponsoring advanced manufacturing capstone projects, and providing design and manufacturing assistance.

The nine DoD MIIs (participants in the 16-member Manufacturing USA³ network) are designed to spur innovation in manufacturing by providing access to state-of-the art equipment, organizing applied research projects in manufacturing technologies, and implementing “targeted education and workforce development (EWD) training programs.”⁴ The EWD programs focus on advanced manufacturing for skilled technical workers, but the programs and educational materials developed could also be used in the education of undergraduates. A recent study that reviewed “best practices in education and workforce development” for the MIIs presented a number of

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³ DoD Manufacturing Technology Program, “Manufacturing USA,” https://www.dodmantech.mil/Manufacturing-Collaborations/Manufacturing-USA, accessed September 27, 2022.

⁴ DoD Manufacturing Technology Program, “Manufacturing Innovation Institutes,” https://www.dodmantech.mil/Manufacturing-Innovation-Institutes, accessed September 27, 2022.

TABLE 4-1 Industry

TABLE 4-2 Federal Government with Industry Collaboration (focused on defense industrial base)

NOTE: DoD, Department of Defense; DOE, Department of Energy; NIST, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

findings and suggestions for curriculum design and for scaling up education delivery that apply equally to undergraduate education.⁵ DOE and NIST institutes have similar opportunities.

Specific ways in which the manufacturing institutes can augment support include engaging undergraduates to participate in applied research projects undertaken by the institutes; adapting advanced training materials and courses to serve undergraduate engineering students, including offering online options; using institute-developed training materials to contribute

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⁵ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), 2021, DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, https://doi.org/10.17226/26329.

TABLE 4-3 Federal Government

NOTE: DoD, Department of Defense; DOE, Department of Energy; ERC, Engineering Research Center; GOALI, Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry; IAC, industrial assessment center; IUCRC, Industry-University Cooperative Research Center; MEP, Manufacturing Extension Partnership; NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration; NIST, National Institute of Standards and Technology; NSF, National Science Foundation; REU, Research Experiences for Undergraduates; SBIR, Small Business Innovation Research; STTR, Small Business Technology Transfer.

TABLE 4-4 State and Local Governments

TABLE 4-5 Professional Societies (academic, industry members)

NOTE: ASEE, American Society for Engineering Education; ASME, American Society of Mechanical Engineers; SME, previously the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

to curriculum development for undergraduate engineering programs; and contributing experience and services of in-house advanced manufacturing equipment and laboratories to “remote factories” (see Recommendation 4.8).

NSF programs are ideal vehicles for supporting academic work; academics are familiar with NSF proposal and grant processes, and NSF has a broad array of programs that already serve undergraduate education.

Specific ways in which NSF can augment support include (1) supplementing applied research grants to include opportunities for undergraduate participation, either with Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) funding or research staff support; (2) focusing a new engineering research center (ERC), perhaps hybrid autonomous manufacturing, on advanced manufacturing, with collaboration/partnership with other government agencies and defense industrial base (DIB) manufacturers; and (3) allowing REU student research collaboration with industry, even at an industrial site. The new NSF Directorate for TIP has programs in translational/applied research (see below).

The mission agencies sponsor research and development in national laboratories, industry, and universities. Advanced manufacturing is key to some of this work (e.g., additive manufacturing of aerospace components such as rocket nozzles and motors, turbine rotors, and complex mounting brackets). As with other applied research in advanced manufacturing, these projects might offer research experiences for undergraduates. The laboratories and research centers operated by these agencies provide internship opportunities; some fellowships exist and could be expanded.

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants go to small companies for focused applied research. SBIR focus areas could be expanded to

include advanced manufacturing.⁶ Companies with advanced manufacturing projects could seek solutions by working with teams of undergraduate students, perhaps as part of a capstone project. DoD could emphasize this focus in its solicitations and awards.

Both the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and industrial assessment centers (IACs) support focused R&D programs to enhance manufacturing in small and medium manufacturers. Their programs are opportunities to expand topics into advanced manufacturing, and to reach increased numbers of undergraduate engineering students and faculty. See Recommendations 4.6 and 4.7, below.

State initiatives for economic initiatives may include equipment, mockup manufacturing lines, training, and other mechanisms that can support advanced manufacturing education. Mock-up lines are a perfect opportunity for students at all levels to work on manufacturing equipment, using both established and advanced manufacturing technologies, and to work with industry in identifying new technologies.

State and local initiatives often bring industry to a region, and there are opportunities to engage local academic institutions in many ways. Academics can recruit adjuncts or professors of the practice, sponsorship and real manufacturing mentoring for capstones, and joint advanced development projects, for example. A major new local employer will often sponsor educational initiatives to meet its needs.

Professional societies aggregate academic and industry influence to induce changes that have broad scope, such as government funding, standards development (such as certification), and curriculum objectives, such as those of ABET (see Recommendation 2.2).

Professional societies are also mounting “challenge” competitions to focus modern manufacturing capabilities on problems that resonate with the public. For example, the 2023 Digital Manufacturing Challenge calls on designers and engineers to go beyond the classroom or laboratory and showcase their technical and commercial talents by demonstrating new and creative ways digital manufacturing can add value.⁷

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⁶ DoD, 2022, “Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, SBIR 22.2 Program Broad Agency Announcement (BAA),” issued for pre-release April 20, https://media.defense.gov/2022/Apr/15/2002977654/-1/-1/1/DOD_22.2_FULL.PDF, p. 5.

⁷ Society of Manufacturing Engineers, “Digital Manufacturing Challenge,” https://www.sme.org/aboutsme/awards/digital-manufacturing-challenge, accessed September 25, 2022.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In light of the above considerations, the committee offers the following recommendations for actions by government and industry, either jointly or separately:

There are many ways these objectives can be met; some augmented support mechanisms are sketched in the tables and text above. Support from industry or government for capstone projects, especially those that involve direct exposure to advanced manufacturing, is a prime example of an existing support path that can be strengthened.

New Opportunities for Industrial Support

Adjunct Roles for Industry Engineers in Academia

Many academic engineering programs would benefit from more manufacturing experience among their faculty, instructors, and advisors. Although industry engineers spending sabbaticals at a university might be ideal, it is rare that their employers will consent. However, employees could be permitted to serve as “remote adjuncts” in limited roles, such as overseeing design projects, critiquing designs, or lecturing about particular additive manufacturing processes. The adjuncts’ time commitment could be limited, and almost all their work could avoid absence from their job by using remote collaboration tools. They would get not only thanks but also professional credit for the work, and their employers would probably welcome the implicit opportunity to recruit students.

Fraunhofer-Like Programs for Manufacturing

The model of government–industry–academia collaboration practiced by the Fraunhofer institutes in Germany is viewed by many as a successful way to bring technical innovations to market. “Students who choose to work on projects at Fraunhofer Institutes have excellent opportunities to start and develop a career in industry through the practical training and experience they acquire.”⁸ This is a concrete model of applied research as an educational engine.

Fraunhofer recently launched a cooperative program with the University of South Carolina to stimulate technical and manufacturing resources in the state. This program is not unlike that of the research centers that Google and Microsoft have established attached to major university research departments active in computer and information technologies. The U.S. manufacturing institutes were originally intended as Fraunhofer-like entities.

Develop Capstone Project Portfolios for Advanced Manufacturing

Capstone projects—or other project courses—are an ideal way to introduce advanced manufacturing, usually as three-dimensional (3D) printing. Many students will have already done 3D printing as part of makerspace experiences in high school or college or in engineering laboratories and will be ready for new challenges, such as trying to make final parts (net shapes) within specific tolerances. Or learning how manufacturing deviations affect certain kinds of assemblies. Or devising experiments to determine the “design rules” that characterize what can be successfully built by a particular

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⁸ R. Klinger and L. Behlau, 2012, “Bridging the Gap Between Science and Industry: The Fraunhofer Model,” STI Policy Review 3(2):130–151, p. 132.

machine and material. Or exploring how best to convert a particular “near net shape” produced by additive manufacturing to a final accurate net shape.

A portfolio of project plans that explore different aspects of advanced manufacturing would reduce the uncertainty and development efforts required for these courses. The plans could also cover a range of advanced manufacturing methods and equipment and provide links to fabrication services that can support students using them.

New Opportunities for Government Support

Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships

In March 2022, NSF announced a new directorate, TIP,⁹ which represents a transition from its focus on academic fundamental research to sponsor more applied and translational research, with active participation by industry and nonprofit organizations. The new directorate is to “rapidly bring new technologies to market and address the most pressing societal and economic challenges of our time.”

On August 9, 2022, President Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act (P.L. 117-167),¹⁰ which authorizes funding increases for NSF (minus

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⁹ National Science Foundation (NSF), 2022, “NSF Establishes New Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships,” News Release 22-002, U.S. Science, March 16, https://beta.nsf.gov/news/nsf-establishes-new-directorate-technology.

¹⁰ U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 2022, “CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 Section-by-Section Summary,” Section X in CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, Washington, DC, https://democrats-science.house.gov/chipsandscienceact.

the new directorate) of $1.2 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2023, increasing to $13.8 billion in FY 2027. The law authorizes $1.85 billion for the TIP directorate in FY 2023, increasing to $5.1 billion in FY 2027, at which point it will be 27 percent of the total agency budget.¹¹ Plans for the directorate highlight advanced manufacturing, supplementing support from other NSF directorates.¹² The new directorate is a paradigm shift for NSF (see Table 4-6).

In addition to new TIP programs, NSF will move several existing programs to the new directorate: SBIR/ Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) small business R&D programs, the Innovation Corps (I-Corps) entrepreneurial education program, Convergence Accelerators, and Partnerships for Innovation (PFI). In September 2022, NSF announced a partnership between the Convergence Accelerator program and DoD OUSD(R&E) in a $12 million program to advance 5G technologies and communications for U.S. military, government, and critical infrastructure operators.¹³

Regional Innovation Engines

One of the major new TIP programs is the Regional Innovation Engines (RIE) program, which will fund RIE centers with up to $16 million annually over 10 years.¹⁴ The RIE program supports collaboration between industry and the academic community and provides industry participants the opportunity to help set the agenda and focus applied research efforts on issues that are important to them for economic growth. It is anticipated that the NSF effort will complement other ongoing efforts, such as those in other NSF directorates, federal programs at mission agencies such as DoD, DOE, and NASA, and state and private-sector programs. Best practices developed at

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¹¹ U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 2022, “Science Committee Provisions in the CHIPS and Science Act Fact Sheet,” CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, Washington, DC, https://democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/doc/division_b_sst_fact_sheets.pdf.

¹² NSF, 2022, “Outreach: Intro to NSF’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships,” September 27, https://beta.nsf.gov/events/intro-nsfs-directorate-technology-innovation-and-partnerships/2022-09-27.

¹³ NSF, 2022, “NSF’s Convergence Accelerator, DoD Partner on a $12 Million Investment to Advance 5G Technologies and Communications for U.S. Military, Government and Critical Infrastructure Operators,” September 7, https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/convergence-accelerator/updates/nsfs-convergence-accelerator-dod-partner-12.

¹⁴ See, E. Gianchandani, 2022, “Dear Colleague Letter: NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) Program,” NSF 22-082, Alexandria, VA: NSF, May 3, https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2022/nsf22082/nsf22082.pdf.

TABLE 4-6 Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships: A Paradigm Shift for the National Science Foundation

SOURCE: Jesús Soriano Molla, 2022, “Perspectives from National Science Foundation on the Technology Innovation Partnership Program,” presentation to the committee, August 10, Washington, DC: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

other large funded centers such as MIIs and innovation hubs such as those at DoD and DOE may apply to the RIE centers as well.

NSF recently initiated a solicitation for concept papers.¹⁵ The program will prioritize geographic regions that do not have well-established innovation ecosystems. The program can be led by universities, for-profit entities, and nonprofit organizations. Funding can be provided to national laboratories, federally funded research and development centers, and state and local governments. In August 2022, NSF announced that 679 concept outlines had been received. They came from all 50 states and four U.S. territories; 407 were submitted by higher education institutions, 168 by nonprofits and government, and 104 from industry, including incubators. Advanced manufacturing, with about 100 concept outlines, was the most popular topic of interest.

It is not clear at this point whether RIE or other TIP programs will have focused topics or open solicitations or a combination of both. ARPA-E has successfully used both approaches.¹⁶ Focused programs would have industry and academia identify specific technologies and education components appropriate for applied research. Open solicitations could be for potentially disruptive technologies along a broad path of applied research.

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¹⁵ Ibid.

¹⁶ NASEM, 2017, An Assessment of ARPA-E, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, https://doi.org/10.17226/24778.

Translational/Applied Research Program

If TIP is funded as expected, it has an opportunity to initiate an investigator-driven applied research program that may be similar in size and length to programs in other NSF directorates. For example, programs could be funded at a total of $2 million to $10 million over a 3-year period. The portfolio could be developed with industry and universities working collaboratively to identify advanced technologies and educational components including undergraduate engineering student participation (see Recommendation 3.3). These could be open or focused solicitations. In the larger RIE programs, academic applied research will be focused on research applicable to the goal of the sponsoring regional center, but TIP can also support investigator-driven applied research not related to an engineering program but important for meeting TIP goals of developing new technologies and products to create new jobs, grow the economy, and increase U.S. competitiveness.

In all TIP programs, there are opportunities to support advanced manufacturing in undergraduate engineering education. For example, TIP could support industry internships and work-study programs. Funding could be provided for faculty to spend sabbaticals or summers in industry and for industry employees to work at universities, with faculty and students involved in the project. Translational research programs could favor industry/academic collaborations in which industrially important problems are proposed. There could be funding for advanced manufacturing equipment at the university and for the centers and practicums in the centers. The RIE centers could use some funds to support regional “learning factories” that can be used by a number of universities to provide students with hands-on learning for advanced manufacturing (see Recommendation 4.8).

NSF has a history and culture of funding excellent peer-reviewed use-inspired research at universities and colleges. The new TIP directorate with the planned funding levels offers a major opportunity for academia and the private sector to jointly plan and implement applied research programs that will accelerate development of new technologies and products, involve undergraduate engineering students in applied research programs, and provide industry an opportunity to engage more actively in NSF program management, for example as peer reviewers and through the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA).

Focusing MEP and IAC on Advanced Manufacturing for the Defense Industrial Base

There are several government programs that provide technical assistance to small and medium manufacturers and an opportunity for undergraduate engineering students to obtain practical experience in an industrial setting.

NIST Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership

NIST’s MEP has a national network of centers located in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Pravina Raghavan, MEP director, gave an update of the MEP at the committee’s workshop (see “Efforts by Government and Nonprofit Institutes” in Appendix B). The centers work to provide small and medium-sized manufacturers with the resources needed to improve operations, develop new products and customers, adopt new technologies, enhance value within the supply chains, and be competitive in the global marketplace.

The federal government pays half the support for each center, with the balance funded by state/local governments and/or the private sector. Of the 51 centers, 18 are at universities, which provides a direct interaction between industry and academia; 25 centers are nonprofit organizations and 8 are state based. The non-university members usually have a strong connection with one or more universities. The universities provide access to potential employees as well as to new technologies. MEP centers work directly with university students to support manufacturing projects, through either unofficial internships or cooperative education programs where students are paid. In addition, MEP centers are helpful with capstone projects.

A 2021 study of the Manufacturing Innovation Institutes notes that they should engage with the MEPs.¹⁷ MEPs are shifting from a focus on lean manufacturing to the adoption of digital and advanced manufacturing technologies. The report states that the collaboration could be beneficial for technology adoptions, strengthening the manufacturing ecosystem in addition to training a skilled workforce.

DOE Industrial Assessment Centers

The DOE Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) supports R&D projects, R&D consortia, and early-stage technical partnerships with national laboratories, companies (for-profit and not-for-profit), state and local governments, and universities through competitive, merit-reviewed funding opportunities designed to investigate new manufacturing technologies. The major push in AMO is decarbonization.¹⁸

Becca Jones-Albertus, AMO interim director, DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, spoke to the committee about AMO programs, including the IACs, which provide no-cost energy assessments for small and medium-sized manufacturers. There are 35 centers at universities across the country. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (HR 3684, Sec. 40521) appropriates $150 million over 5 years for IACs to help small and medium-sized manufacturing plants identify possible energy-efficient improvements, and a $400 million grant program helps implement the recommendations. The IACs have typically been housed at 4-year institutions with undergraduate engineering programs where students receive hands-on assessment training and knowledge of industrial processes. The funding offers opportunities to reach increased numbers of undergraduate engineering students and faculty.

Some of the new funding is for expansion to community colleges, union apprenticeships, and other activities to encourage more diverse workforce participation.

Both MEPs and IACs support undergraduate engineering students and are expanding. They could provide DoD with collaborative programs

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¹⁷ NASEM, 2021, DoD Engagement with Its Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Phase 2 Study Final Report, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, https://doi.org/10.17226/26329.

¹⁸ See Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, “Advanced Manufacturing & Industrial Decarbonization Offices,” https://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/advanced-manufacturing-industrial-decarbonization-offices, accessed September 23, 2022.

involving small and medium-sized companies. Several IACs and MEPs are collocated at the same university center. MEP covers all of the industrial SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes; IACs focus on energy assessments.

DoD Advanced Manufacturing Fellowships

Most of the individual fellowships awarded by the federal agencies (e.g., NSF, DoD, NASA, DOE) are for graduate or postdoctoral students. Undergraduate support is available through the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, but these target a broad spectrum of disciplinary backgrounds that may or may not be STEM related. The DoD Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) scholarship program provides funding and training for both graduate and undergraduate in STEM.¹⁹ Students who participate in the SMART scholarship program are required to spend summers at DoD facilities and then a 12-month period as a full-time staff member at a DoD facility as a civilian staff member.

The Innovation in Buildings (IBUILD) program of the DOE’s Building Technology Office offers 3-year graduate research fellowships for PhDs in

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¹⁹ DoD Science, Mathematics, and Research (SMART), “DoD SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program,” https://www.smartscholarship.org/smart, accessed September 23, 2022.

areas related to the mission of building energy efficiency. “The fellowship provides opportunities for professional development outside the home institution, including mentoring and internships at national laboratories.”²⁰ Students can also stay at their home institution. A fellowship for advanced manufacturing students could be a 2-year program beginning in the student’s junior year. It would cover tuition, room and board expenses, and a summer internship doing applied research at the home institution, a service laboratory, military facilities such as arsenals, or a national laboratory.

Remote Factories

Most universities can provide “desktop prototype” advanced manufacturing equipment (e.g., 3D printers for polymer materials), but to learn about or pursue applied research in advanced manufacturing, access to industrial-quality equipment is essential.

Access to industrial equipment and processes could be provided in several ways. Commercial vendors provide additive manufacturing services through the internet (e.g., Proto Labs²¹ and Quickparts²²). Several MIIs operate small laboratories with various advanced manufacturing equipment that could be accessed via the internet. Or one or more entirely new “factories” could be established, operating similar equipment via identical network interfaces. But because advanced manufacturing and its equipment are advancing rapidly, a large commitment to a fixed service is unwise.

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²⁰ Department of Energy Building Technologies Office, “IBUILD: Innovation in Buildings Graduate Research Fellowship,” https://ibuildfellowship.org, accessed November 16, 2022.

²¹ Proto Labs, “Digital Manufacturing Designed for You,” https://www.protolabs.com, accessed September 25, 2022.

²² CloudBank, “Homepage,” https://www.cloudbank.org, accessed September 25, 2022.

NSF offers researchers (and sometimes students) discounted internet access to facilities or services that are not practical for universities to provide themselves or to obtain at full market price. NSF makes commercial cloud computing resources available to computer science researchers through CloudBank²³ and has also enabled “Access to Semiconductor Fabrication.”²⁴ In a similar way, NSF could provide access to advanced manufacturing services.

Many users of industrial advanced manufacturing services will need assistance in the form of advice from the services vendor or other knowledgeable engineer. (See Recommendation 4.2.)

Advanced Manufacturing Curriculum Development

The “Advanced Manufacturing Curricula” section in Chapter 2 describes the desirable characteristics of an advanced manufacturing curriculum for undergraduate engineering education. Although a single professor can create a superb course, educational materials that meet most or all of the expectations we have described are not likely to emerge spontaneously. Since NSF sponsors curriculum development as well as research to improve pedagogical techniques, it is a good choice to sponsor an advanced manufacturing curriculum.

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²³ Quickparts, “Rapid Prototyping,” https://quickparts.com/rapid-prototyping, accessed September 25, 2022.

²⁴ S.S. Margulies, M. Martonosi, and S.L. Jones, 2022, “Dear Colleague Letter: Supplements for Access to Semiconductor Fabrication (ASF),” NSF 22-113, Alexandria, VA: NSF, August 16, https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2022/nsf22113/nsf22113.pdf.

Synergies Among Support Recommendations

An objective of this study was to identify mechanisms that could improve the education and supply of engineers for the DIB. Many of the committee’s recommendations cannot be implemented rapidly or are likely to affect only a limited number of undergraduate engineering programs and students. But capstone courses may offer a promising approach, due to the following several properties:

• Capstone and other hands-on courses are widely implemented in undergraduate engineering programs.
• Course projects often build prototypes, often using desktop additive manufacturing equipment.
• Experimentation in these courses is easier than in other parts of the engineering curriculum.
• Faculty, often collaborating across disciplines, frequently lead these courses.
• Industry supports many of the courses and/or their projects.

An engineering program could offer one or more sections of these experiential learning courses that have an explicit focus on advanced manufacturing (see Box 4-1).