RACE: Robotics and Automation Careers in Engineering for the 21 Century
Erasmus+, Strategic partnership, 2016 - 2019
Robotics, Automation Careers in Engineering in the 21 Century (RACE21) is a partnership between six VET colleges (UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Finland and Romania) and a VET host organisation in the Czech Republic. VET partners will also act as a host for 60 local businesses to participate.
This is a three year project whereby 12 VET staff and 270 students from seven countries will participate in a ‘problem based learning’ project aimed at developing new, innovative, creative curriculum in the field of robotics and automation.
New pedagogy will be developed for teaching staff enabling higher level ‘applied’ automation and robotic skills amongst VET learners increasing innovation, creativity and entrepreneurial skills thereby narrowing the gap between academia and the world of work.
RACE21 will be delivered through a Robot Club comprising of 270 VET students, 12 STEM/VET lecturers and 60 employers. Each partner will engage with ten local industry world of work partners with experience or the desire to implement innovative automation or robotic solutions.
RACE21 is a unique opportunity to engage VET engineering students with employers in an innovative way. RACE21 seeks to build on the shared learning from its predecessor Robotics, Automation Careers in Engineering (RACE) project that identified an unexpected learning opportunity.
During the RACE project students learned about automation and robotics careers opportunities as well as developing practical skills in ‘How to Build a Robot’. In explaining the rationale for the use of automation and robotics, employers highlighted the dual gain of increased productivity and their ability to release employees’ creativity and innovation capacity.
RACE21 will provide opportunities for VET staff and students to participate in blended mobilities and short-term joint staff training events leading to the development of new pedagogy in applied robotics and automation enabling closer links between employers and VET providers.
