UC Riverside has received a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to build a new model for engineering education that responds to changing technologies, workforce needs, and industry challenges.
The five-year project, “A Workforce-Responsive Model for Engineering Education and Regional Competitiveness,” will support the development of UCR’s Advanced & Integrated Manufacturing (AIM) Hub, a newly approved center within the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering that is now in its launch and development phase.
AIM is being built as a platform where manufacturers and other industry partners can bring forward technical and workforce challenges and connect with UCR faculty, students, research expertise, and engineering capabilities. Its broader goal is to strengthen connections among engineering education, applied research, technology development, and the workforce needed to support the Inland Empire’s manufacturing economy.
The Department of Labor grant will help put that vision into practice by creating a workforce-responsive system that brings industry, faculty, workforce experts, and students into an ongoing process. Partners will identify emerging technologies, skills, and workforce needs; faculty will translate those insights into learning experiences; and UCR will evaluate the results to continually improve the model.
“The distinguishing strength of AIM is that it creates a true digital-to-physical engineering environment, where industry challenges, digital models and data, advanced tools, and hands-on validation come together in one place,” said Kavan Hazeli, professor of mechanical engineering and founding director of the AIM Hub. “Industry can help define what is needed; faculty can turn that insight into learning and research; and students can apply it to real problems.”
Digital engineering, digital twins, robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, and data-driven operations are changing how companies design products and run manufacturing systems. Engineers need not only strong technical foundations, but also experience working across disciplines and using emerging tools to address complex engineering challenges.
The grant will establish three connected components within AIM. The AIM Technology Foresight Council will bring together industry representatives, faculty, workforce experts, and regional partners to identify emerging technologies, skills, and challenges. Those insights will help inform courses, student projects, internships, credentials, and other AIM activities.
The AIM Innovation Studio will organize hands-on, multidisciplinary work around industry-informed challenges. Students and faculty will use digital engineering, digital twins, robotics, sensing, computing, and manufacturing technologies through activities such as senior design projects, AIM Grand Challenges, applied research, and demonstrations. As AIM develops and secures additional infrastructure, the studio is intended to grow into a dedicated physical environment for this work.
The Adaptive Workforce Development Laboratory will serve as the project’s research, assessment, and continuous-improvement component. It will evaluate whether AIM experiences are helping students develop the technical, professional, and systems-level capabilities needed in changing technology careers and use those findings to improve future programs.
Companies will be able to participate by identifying workforce and technology needs, sponsoring student projects or applied research, mentoring students, advising on curriculum, offering internships, and providing feedback on the capabilities they need from future engineers.
Over five years, AIM plans to engage at least 25 employers and 10 UCR academic units, support approximately 100 undergraduate students through 20 industry-sponsored senior design projects, provide applied research opportunities for 15 master’s students, and develop or substantially enhance at least five multidisciplinary courses.
The grant represents an important step in AIM’s development as BCOE builds the partnerships, programs, and infrastructure needed to support the center’s long-term vision. By creating an ongoing connection among industry needs, engineering education, and applied research, AIM aims to develop a model that can evolve as technologies, careers, and regional workforce needs change.