Alka Harriger joined the faculty of the Computer and Information Technology Department (CIT) in 1982 and is currently a Professor of CIT. For the majority of that time, she has been actively involved in teaching software development courses. From 2008From -2014, she led the NSF-ITEST funded SPIRIT (Surprising Possibilities Imagined and Realized through Information Technology) project. Since October 2013, she has been co-leading with Prof. Brad Harriger the NSF-ITEST funded TECHFIT (Teaching Engineering Concepts to Harness Future Innovators and Technologists) project. Professor Harriger's current interests include application development, outreach to K-12 to interest more students to pursue computing careers, applying IT skills to innovating fitness tools, and wearable computing.Prof. Bradley C. Harriger, Purdue University, West Lafayette Brad Harriger has over 30 years of experience teaching automated manufacturing and has authored/coauthored several related articles. Professor Harriger has served in several leadership roles with Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education, and is a founding member of an international Aerospace Automation Consortium, serving on its steering committee for several years. He has invested over twenty-five years in the development and maintenance of a multimillion dollar manufacturing laboratory facility complete with a full scale, fully integrated manufacturing system. Professor Harriger has been a Co-PI on two NSF funded grants focused on aerospace manufacturing education and is currently a Co-PI on the NSF funded TECHFIT project, a middle school afterschool program that teaches students how to use programmable controllers and other technologies to design exercise games. Additionally, he co-organizes multiple regional automation competitions for an international controls company. Attracting Minorities to ET through TECHFIT Abstract:Attracting any group to a particular discipline requires providing opportunities for that group to participate as well as making the experience engaging enough that the participants are eager to learn more. TECHFIT (Teaching Engineering Concepts to Harness Future Innovators and Technologists) is a three-year project designed to spark interest in engineering technology in middle school students, especially minority students. TECHFIT teaches participants about electricity, wiring, safety, programming, and fitness. Each participant team creates their own functional, prototype exergame using a provided technology toolkit. The primary goal of this intervention is to increase student interest in pursuing science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) study, but a related secondary goal is to encourage a healthy lifestyle related to physical activity. This paper will share the design of the TECHFIT program and provide recommendations regarding the approach used to attract all groups, including minorities, to engineering technology.

The aerospace industry is going through a period of radical change. As products become increasingly complex, engineering technicians must be more specialized, obtaining skills that, until recently, were used only by "pure" engineers. At the same time, the demand for skilled maintenance personnel is growing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the need for aerospace engineering and operations technicians will increase ten percent between 2006 and 2016, compared with a 7 percent overall employment growth in the need for engineering technicians. Furthermore, notwithstanding today's more sophisticated technology, employers are looking for a well-prepared workforce that requires little or no on-site training. Another problem in the aerospace industry is an aging workforce (average age mid 40s or older) that will begin retiring in large numbers in the near future. This reality creates an urgent need for new approaches in two-year aerospace programs.

After completing an undergraduate degree in Physics at Purdue University, Don began his career teaching high school physics and physical science. Soon, however, he began working in the Process Industries in various states, before returning to Indiana. Since 1979 he has been with Endress+Hauser, a worldwide leader in process automation measurement. At the US headquarters in the metropolitan Indianapolis area, Don has held roles as diverse as R&D physicist, Engineering Manager, Product Development Specialist, Product Manager, and Technical Training Manager. Today he works in Technical Talent Development where his role is all about engineering students -exposing them to the process industries by engaging with faculty and programs with time, people, and equipment -and hiring high potential graduates for an Endress+Hauser development program. It is in this faculty engagement realm that Don finds himself co-authoring this paper with faculty from his alma mater.Prof. Bradley C. Harriger, Purdue University, West Lafayette Brad Harriger has over 30 years of experience teaching automated manufacturing and has authored/coauthored several related articles. Professor Harriger has served in several leadership roles with Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education, and is a founding member of an international Aerospace Automation Consortium, serving on its steering committee for several years. He has invested over twenty-five years in the development and maintenance of a multimillion dollar manufacturing laboratory facility complete with a full scale, fully integrated manufacturing system. Professor Harriger has been a Co-PI on two NSF funded grants focused on aerospace manufacturing education and is currently a Co-PI on the NSF funded TECHFIT project, a middle school afterschool program that teaches students how to use programmable controllers and other technologies to design exercise games. Additionally, he co-organizes multiple regional automation competitions for an international controls company.c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Leveraging Industry Partnerships to Create New Educational Focused Laboratory Facilities AbstractThis paper details an innovative partnership between academia and multiple manufacturers, distributors, and vendors within the process control industry leading to the design and installation of new industrial-grade laboratory infrastructure in an undergraduate capstone experience.The multi-year collaboration between academia and industry resulted in the development of a year-long student-driven project centered on the design, development, and installation of new laboratory infrastructure on a scale beyond the budgetary resources of the host institution or any individual industry partner. The resulting installation is a permanent education and demonstration system constructed to industry standards, utilized in the delivery of concepts related to process control, measurement, and communications in undergraduate coursework while also providing a p...

Alka Harriger joined the faculty of the Computer and Information Technology Department (CIT) in 1982 and is currently a Professor of CIT. For the majority of that time, she has been actively involved in teaching software development courses. From 2008From -2014, she led the NSF-ITEST funded SPIRIT (Surprising Possibilities Imagined and Realized through Information Technology) project. Since October 2013, she has been co-leading with Prof. Brad Harriger the NSF-ITEST funded TECHFIT (Teaching Engineering Concepts to Harness Future Innovators and Technologists) project. Professor Harriger's current interests include application development, outreach to K-12 to interest more students to pursue computing careers, applying IT skills to innovating fitness tools, and wearable computing.Prof. Bradley C. Harriger, Purdue University, West Lafayette Brad Harriger has over 30 years of experience teaching automated manufacturing and has authored/coauthored several related articles. Professor Harriger has served in several leadership roles with Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education, and is a founding member of an international Aerospace Automation Consortium, serving on its steering committee for several years. He has invested over twenty-five years in the development and maintenance of a multimillion dollar manufacturing laboratory facility complete with a full scale, fully integrated manufacturing system. Professor Harriger has been a Co-PI on two NSF funded grants focused on aerospace manufacturing education and is currently a Co-PI on the NSF funded TECHFIT project, a middle school afterschool program that teaches students how to use programmable controllers and other technologies to design exercise games. Additionally, he co-organizes multiple regional automation competitions for an international controls company.c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 Using a PLC+Flowchart Programming to Engage STEM Interest Abstract:Attracting students to STEM remains an important goal in today's society. The first step involves educating students about opportunities and possibilities afforded to STEM graduates. Educational institutions that offer prospective students opportunities for interactive experiences that are enjoyable, memorable, and impactful can yield positive results.One activity that has been used successfully by the authors involves teaching flowchart programming of a Phoenix Contact's nanoLine controller. The students ranged from middle school to high school as well as middle school teachers. The activities ranged from a one-hour demonstration, to a half-day interactive, instructional session, to a month-long or semester-long, immersive experience. Projects included developing a simple fitness game to innovating a selfcontained, commercial-quality, automated system. The paper and presentation will provide details about each of these varied approaches and share pluses and minuses of each. Information about how others can make use of this technology at low or no c...

Alka Harriger joined the faculty of the Computer and Information Technology Department (CIT) in 1982 and is currently a Professor of CIT. For the majority of that time, she has been actively involved in teaching software development courses. From 2008From -2014, she led the NSF-ITEST funded SPIRIT (Surprising Possibilities Imagined and Realized through Information Technology) project. Since October 2013, she has been co-leading with Prof. Brad Harriger the NSF-ITEST funded TECHFIT (Teaching Engineering Concepts to Harness Future Innovators and Technologists) project. Professor Harriger's current interests include application development, outreach to K-12 to interest more students to pursue computing careers, applying IT skills to innovating fitness tools, and wearable computing.Prof. Bradley C. Harriger, Purdue University, West Lafayette Brad Harriger has over 30 years of experience teaching automated manufacturing and has authored/coauthored several related articles. Professor Harriger has served in several leadership roles with Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education, and is a founding member of an international Aerospace Automation Consortium, serving on its steering committee for several years. He has invested over twenty-five years in the development and maintenance of a multimillion dollar manufacturing laboratory facility complete with a full scale, fully integrated manufacturing system. Professor Harriger has been a Co-PI on two NSF funded grants focused on aerospace manufacturing education and is currently a Co-PI on the NSF funded TECHFIT project, a middle school afterschool program that teaches students how to use programmable controllers and other technologies to design exercise games. Additionally, he co-organizes multiple regional automation competitions for an international controls company.c American Society for Engineering Education, 2015 Page 26.817.1 Generating Interest in ET through High School Competitions Abstract:Finding ways to generate interest in Engineering Technology (ET) is an ongoing challenge for many colleges and universities. Starting early is always recommended; however, employing recruitment initiatives even in high school may yield success when the right motivators are used. Having strong corporate partnerships not only enables delivery of specialized programs but also strengthens the message from both an academic and industry perspective.The authors partnered with an international manufacturing company that offered a national competition to high school students as part of their STEM outreach. Although the event was labeled as being national, the vast majority of teams were located near the company's headquarters. The recruitment begins in October and the final contest is in mid-February. There are several checkpoints along the way which determine whether a team has accomplished enough to stay in the contest. This paper describes one high school competition that began as a "national competition" at a single location in 2009 and...