Principal Investigator

Justin Starr

Status

Active

Start Date

July 1, 2025

End Date

June 30, 2026

Project Type

Education - Workforce Development

Grant Program

US DOT BIL, Safety21, 2023 - 2028 (4811)

Grant Cycle

Safety21 : 25-26

Visibility

Public

Abstract

CCAC proposes a workforce development project based on three existing workstreams derived from earlier work in Safety21 and Mobility21:

1) As manufacturing in the United States continues to improve, more and more companies are integrating autonomous mobile robots into active production lines. Unfortunately, students trained in traditional elements of manufacturing are not well-equipped to understand autonomous systems: these students show a limited understanding of how autonomous mobile robots sense their surroundings, plan navigation, and respond to unexpected conditions. This program explores integrating elements of autonomous vehicle technology into introductory manufacturing safety courses in order to provide a tangible framework that will make it easier for students to grasp ideas like levels of autonomy. This work is based on preliminary data that showed safer robot programming behaviors among students exposed to the SAE levels of autonomous vehicles. Specifically, under this program, CCAC will create 3-5 safety training modules for manufacturing students, and include a laboratory component where students work alongside an autonomous go kart equipped with radar, lidar, and computer vision systems on common manufacturing tasks. 
2) CCAC was pleased to launch its electric vehicle technician apprenticeship program in early Fall 2024. This program was developed in collaboration with the German American Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Pittsburgh Automobile Dealers Association and a variety of independent repair shops, and is designed to be a modular addition to traditional automotive training programs. Existing mechanics or students enrolled in an automotive technology program can easily add on a vendor-agnostic EV apprenticeship program, and quickly enter the workforce. CCAC plans to extend this EV Apprenticeship program by developing a series of modules based on high voltage training, safety principles and advanced driver assistance systems that are suitable for deployment at partner high schools and career and technology centers (CTCs), creating a pre-apprenticeship pipeline into the apprenticeship program.    

Description

Timeline

Strategic Description / RD&T

Section left blank until USDOT’s new priorities and RD&T strategic goals are available in Spring 2026.

Deployment Plan

Q1 – Koch to work with employers and CTCs to create specific modules appropriate for Grades 9-12 students in pre-apprenticeship programs. Starr to develop introductory safety modules for deployment in mechatronics and advanced manufacturing courses. Multiple teams of students begin crafting SSEP experiment ideas into proposals. 
Q2 – Starr and Koch travel to CTCs to pilot instruction on new safety modules and solicit feedback from K12 instructors. Starr launches safety modules in two manufacturing courses: Automated Equipment and Advanced Production Systems. Step 1 Review board consisting of representatives from local commercial space organizations downselect student proposals. 
Q3 – Koch revises K12 course materials per received feedback. Starr collects and analyzes data from mechatronics courses.
Q4 – Share out findings at ACTE conference presentation and NSF High Impact Technology Exchange Conference. Present at Smart Mobility Connection where applicable. First cohort of pre-apprenticeship students provides feedback on experience and migrates into apprenticeship program while remaining employed at local automotive repair establishments.

Expected Outcomes/Impacts

This project will create several frameworks for workforce development as well as freely available curriculum for technician education. As AI and AV technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, it is critical to integrate technician education - beyond automotive technologies. In the Greater Pittsburgh Area, manufacturing technicians report working alongside autonomous transportation systems and using large language models to complete their daily work. All available safety curriculum and K12 modules will be released in an open source format for other institutions to adopt, free of charge. By using apprenticeship programs to implement these programs, we expect to have a direct impact on employers and manufacturers in the regional economy, ensuring impacts extend beyond education. Additionally, expanding the EV Technician apprenticeship program will create the first pathway for pre-apprenticeship students in EV technology in the United States.

Expected Outputs

Outputs will include: lab manuals, course outlines, SCORM course modules (for systems like Blackboard), a registered apprenticeship program, an interdisciplinary credit certificate program, translated EV materials and curriculum, K12 STEM activities, conference presentations and at least one publication about AI as a Skilled Trade.

TRID

N/A

Individuals Involved

Email	Name	Affiliation	Role	Position
jcowans@ccac.edu	Cowans, Jen	Community College of Alleghney County	Other	Staff - Business Manager
rkoch@ccac.edu	Koch, Robert	Community College of Allegheny County	Co-PI	Faculty - Tenured
jstarr@ccac.edu	Starr, Justin	Community College of Allegheny County	PI	Faculty - Tenured
grants@ccac.edu	Starr, Justin	Comunity Colege of Allegheny County	Other	Staff - Business Manager

Budget

Amount of UTC Funds Awarded

$97560.00

Total Project Budget (from all funding sources)

$206010.00

Documents

Type	Name	Uploaded
Data Management Plan	2024_Safety21_Data_Management_Plan.pdf	Nov. 25, 2024, 5:05 p.m.

Match Sources

No match sources!

Partners

No partners!