The Intelligent Infrastructure Systems Education Project (I2SEP) is a, multi-interdisciplinary, advanced technological education (ATE) project that is improving Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) related undergraduate education primarily in the electronics technology (ET) area. This project is also addressing curricula needs for non-electronics based technologies that utilize complex networked electronic systems to provide automation and control functions or to further enhance system efficiency, safety, and security of the nation's infrastructure.
The I2SEP project is tackling the lack of curricula available to address the new skill sets needed by the electronics/systems technicians of the coming decade as the nation begins to rebuild its aging infrastructure and implements new technologies to enhance in-place systems in power delivery (SmartGrid), alternative energy production, building automation, transportation systems, etc. The new paradigm in electronics technology of systems-on-a-chip and a ubiquitous Internet providing connectivity is driving this project's efforts in the creation of system-centered curricula materials that include original, powerful, interactive simulations and conventional curriculum modules. Annual project workshops are providing faculty with professional development in the utilization of student-centered teaching strategies and methodologies, the emerging field of networked sensors and embedded controller technology, and various intelligent infrastructure applications enabled by these technologies.
On a broader level, the project is hosting annual Industry/educator summits to assist in the planning of strategies needed to deliver the required skill sets to students in both electronics and non-electronics based disciplines. Through these activities, a replicable model for the development of multi-interdisciplinary educational materials for both electronics and non-electronics based technology fields by traditional electronics faculty members is being created.
The "Intelligent Infrastructure Sysatems Education Project" was conceived as a way to introduce two-year technical college faculty members to an important emerging technology that is destine to impact many hardware oriented technology fields. Spurred on by the hype of the "Smart Grid" and the forecast of a soon to be needed power industry workforce with new skill sets, the project had goals of; producing curricula materials including computer based simulations and virtual labs, developing faculty expertise in the topic area, widely disseminating developed materials, and ultimately implementing an associate in science (AS) degree program in "Intelligent Infrastructure Systems Technology." This four year project located at Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, Massachusetts would build on successful prior grant work performed by the project team. Over the past several decades, there has been a convergence of various different technology fields that have spawned the development of the so called "Information Economy." Most recognize the Intenet as being one of the primary technology enablers in this change. Today, the terms: "Internet of Things", "Smarter Planet", "Smart Grid", and "machine-to-machine" are some of the popular press terms used to describe the next evolution of Internet applications. These applications involve the deployment of intricate electronic systems, including complex sensors and advanced actuators with embedded (ambient) intelligence coupled with modern data-transport and networking technologies and application-enabling software as the tools used to enhance in place systems or infrastructure. - hence, intelligent infrastructure systems. Today's television images of self-parking automobiles and vehicles equipped with anti-collision technology are just the harbingers of what is to come. Some predict driverless cars will eventually make a drivers license obsolete by the 2040s. This technology of networked sensor based embedded control systems or "cyber-physical systems" (as they are becoming known as) has the very genuine potential to significantly impact almost every aspect of human endeavor and commerce by increasing system efficiency, reducing energy consumption, providing real-time monitoring of the nation's infrastructure and environment and improving public health, safety, and national security. It was apparent to the project's directors that there was a lack of faculty awareness of this type of technology at the community college level. Therefore, the project's goals were focused on; (1) increasing the available curricula materials about the enabling technoloogies. To this end, the project team thoroughly investigated the technologies that facilitate these types of systems and developed curriculum in three specific areas: networked embedded controllers, sensor networks, and wireless data networks. Furthermore, two additional modules that introduced the technology of cyber-physical systems and considered their potential application areas were also developed. (2) Developing faculty expertise about this emerging field. The project recruited twenty local middle-school science and technology (STEM) teachers for a short on-line course that introduced cyber-physical systems and the project's virtual lab materials and also ran a much more in-depth, highly successful (as indicated by course evaluation metrics), on-line course for two- and four-year college technology and computer science faculty. Sixty, mostly two-year technology college faculty from all over the United States took and completed the six modules that the course eventually consisted of. (3) Disseminating information about the project and its curriculum materials was accomplished though the on-line course, multiple presentations at national technology conferences, and the project's web-site which serves as a repository for the developed curriculum and virtual lab simulatiuons. (4) Lastly, developing a new two-year technology program that educates technicians to deal with this new technology seemed to be a daunting task early on in the project's beginnings but as time went on this aspect of the project morphed into the development of an innovative, forward looking, Biomedical Instrumentation Technology program that is based on cyber-physical systems technology (the basis of e-healthcare). This aspect of the project was so well received that the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center recently awarded Springfield Technical Community College $1 million in funding to provide money for capital equipment and facilities to allow the College to bring the program on line by 2016. It is felt by the project's team that this new program could well serve as a model for future programs in other technology areas such as automotive, building automation, process control, etc. This project made agreat deal of progress in obtaining its goals and objectives but like any emerging technology area, there will be rapid changes that will produce much more additional knowledge for this technology area. Hopefully, the development of a workforce to deal with it will soon become a high priority for two-year technical community colleges.
