Ohlone College Robotics In the News

Summary of the December 2004 Robotics Planning Meeting

Planning the Newark Robotics Program

In Spring 2005, Ohlone College began groundbreaking for its Newark campus with classes scheduled to start in 2008. Classes in Health Sciences and Technology will be centerpiece programs at this facilitiy. Ohlone's Math, Science and Technology Department is currently in the process of determining the technology programs that will be taught there. In the last 30 years the development of new technologies, which become the latest “High Technology”, has greatly impacted local industries and the demand for employees with skills necessary to support these industries. The college has responded to these “high tech” booms by providing the training to fulfill demands for skilled worker through it technology programs.

Because the exact nature of High Technology two years from now cannot be accurately predicated today, planning for the Newark Campus technology programs has to become much more than just an exercise in selecting classes and developing curriculum. The Department's planning process for "high technology" has had to address three major issues. First, high technology by its very nature is constantly changing - the selection process had to be one that would not just reflect the technology "flavor of the month". Secondly, enrollments in such programs often are extremely volitile as industrial needs adjust to technology changes : mechanisms to buffer enrollments during these adjustment periods needed to be part of the planning process. Finally, because high technology programs have only a limited life span, the planning also has had to include the structures to recognize change and react accordingly.

Why Robotics?

To address this first issue, the planners opted to not try to predict what the "hot technology" would be two years from now, the strategy was to concentrate on the basic relationships which exist between any physical phenomenon and computers, networks and programming. The result was the identification of a set of skills which would applicable to any technology. Robotics was chosen as a potential flagship for Newark technology programs because it utilizes skill sets that are "universally applicable" across nearly all technologies and is part of a much broader set of technology skills - automation controls. A robotics training program could easily evolve or be integrated into other technology programs and could also be a gateway to other technology programs.

K-12 Outreach - Foundation Building

The ultimate long term success of a High Technology program is based upon the existence of a pool of students with a background in math and science. This background is not started at Ohlone, it is begun at the elementary school level and nurtured through the junior and senior high school years. To address the enrollment volatility that most High Technology programs encounter, a broader and more diverse population of students with interest in math and science must be developed. This can only be done with cooperation of the math and science programs of the local k-12s. Ohlone must explore and encourage “outreach programs” with these groups. . This outreach must be a consideration in not only the High Technology program development but should be a vital part of all of Ohlone's science and math departments.

Industrial and Academic Input - Heads Up on New Technology

It is a foregone conclusion that whatever High Technology program that is developed now will need to be changed by time it is implemented. The planning process must continually engage those industries that are involved in High Technology to provide guidance and support as technology changes. Traditionally, industrial input to High Technology training was done through Advisory groups that acted as a "board of directors" for such programs. This role should be expanded through the development of joint industrial - Ohlone projects . Our planning should also include ways to partner with existing High Technology programs at four year colleges with the goal of creating a transfer path to these schools. A second Industrial and Four Year School Outreach is necessary to insure the high technology programs can adjust to changes in the marketplace and thus remain relevant to student needs.

Purpose of this Website

Very early on in the planning it became apparent that a lot more than just developing a few new classes and selecting a set of "robotics' classes would be needed to create the "Robotics Program - planning had to address much broader issues of sustainability and evolving technology. The development of the K-12 Math and Science and Industrial Outreach Programs is just as important as developing robotics curriculum in the planning process. Because of their importance to the long term health of the technology programs, a significant portion of this Website will be devoted to passing on developments in these two outreaches.

The robotics planning process is currently in an organizational stage - four Action Committees are being formed and their charter and membership being defined. This Website is intended to serve two purposes. First it is to provide information about the progress of each of the Action Committees. Secondly, it is to announce future K-12 and Industrial Outreaches events that are proposed .

The Website is not intended as a dynamic document in that the actual work of these Action Committees will not be found here. Instead the virtual meeting tool, CCC Conference Meeting, will be used conduct the necessary activities of each group. The tool will allow remote meetings to be convened to facilitate information and idea exchanges.