Because the rapidly evolving global supply-chain system is creating a historic demand for a technological workforce to support all components of this system, academic and industry partners from across the nation are leveraging existing resources to develop the framework for an ATE National Center of Excellence in Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics (TDL). The educational implications of this revolution are profound. Implementation of the technologies needed to support the U.S. component of the global supply-chain system requires workers who have skills not only in TDL principles, but also in systems related to Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), relational database management systems, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies.
Intellectual Merit: Technical and community colleges across the country require assistance in creating programs to develop technicians for this critical and rapidly emerging field. The Center is being designed to support development of technicians throughout the educational continuum, maintain a national database of skill standards in the TDL field aligned with the full spectrum of employer-needed skills, and support an educational continuum extending from high school graduation through the baccalaureate degree. A major activity of the Center is professional development of faculty in the use of case studies, problem-based learning, and curriculum design.
Broader Impact: To help the United States remain competitive in the global supply chain system, the Center is being planned to foster development of the technological workforce required by the TDL industry. Because of the international scope of the global supply chain system, the Center has both a national and international impact. A model that includes best practices in the compilation and validation of skill standards that are aligned with third-party certifications, job categories, and educational credentialing levels is being disseminated through workshops and conferences so that other community colleges can utilize new knowledge in development of TDL programs.
