Owensboro Community and Technical College receives $593,464 grant to provide VR Training

A new virtual reality system is set to be developed at the The Advanced Manufacturing Technical Education Collaborative (AMTEC) located on the Owensboro Community and Technical College (OCTC) campus. A grant of $593,464 awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) will fund the "Strengthening the Industry 4.0 Workforce through Virtual Reality Training Modules" project. The project will be led by the AMTEC, a collaborative consisting of community and technical colleges along with industry partners, and will bring virtual reality training simulations to students pursuing degrees in advanced manufacturing, according to a press release from OCTC.

The project will begin in October and will feature a virtual reality training application using the zSpace platform. The training will allow students to troubleshoot ten simulated problems and will be part of the capstone class for those students. The team leader for the project and director of AMTEC Jason Simon spoke about the need for high-tech systems to train the modern manufacturing workforce. "Now more than ever, industry and education have to partner together to train the workforce of tomorrow. This project is going to allow us to prepare technicians to enter into the ever-evolving field of advanced manufacturing utilizing cutting-edge technology," Simon said in the OCTC press release.

Mary Batch, Talent Management Manager with Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas (an industry partner), said, "There is a considerable gap in the labor market to obtain qualified talent. Everyone is aware of this. Our strategy is to position ourselves in creating and building a flexible and adaptable workforce that can navigate current and upcoming technology challenges. That, at the same time, drives long-term economic growth. New opportunities are needed in designing high-quality programs that require both educational partnerships and industry collaboration as part of strategic emphasis. This will expand opportunities that otherwise are unavailable to the communities by building up talent."

The NSF published an abstract of the grant proposal, which states that while job opportunities in manufacturing have grown at double-digit rates since 2017, there is a gap in applicants qualified to fill those positions. The grant proposal states that the installation of the VR system at OCTC will help bridge that gap by providing the training needed by manufacturers, specifying that industry partners will help shape the simulation programming. The proposal also says that exploratory curriculum for K-12 students will be developed with gaming-style simulations that will aim to recruit more students into advanced manufacturing programs at the post-secondary level. 

In the press release from OCTC, Dr. Scott Williams, president of the college, said, "We are very excited about this grant project. These efforts will promote a diverse, highly skilled, and globally competitive workforce in Kentucky and the nation. In the current and post COVID-19 era, introducing future technicians to industry 4.0 concepts is critically important to ensure a well-trained workforce is ready to fill the needs of industry."