Engineering 4.0

Industry 4.0 is a commonly used term to refer to the fourth industrial revolution that is currently underway. The hallmark of this transformation is the effect of digital technologies such as Internet of Things, Robotics, Cloud Computing, Additive Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence and others on the way we make things and the way we do business. Unlike in earlier transformations, technological change is happening at an exponential rate; as a result, artifacts, knowledge, and expertise are becoming obsolete at a very fast rate.
In this climate of exponential technological change as educators we need to ask hard questions, such as: Is the current system of engineering education appropriate for the current time? Are we behind our times by many decades? What should the new model of engineering education be? Should we have an Engineering 4.0 movement to go hand-in-hand with Industry 4.0?
As a result of these changes some professions and jobs have disappeared. Currently, due to the development of digitalization and robotics, we are facing a similar era of change. “We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist, using technologies that haven't been invented, in order to solve problems, we don't even know are problems yet.”
65% of children entering elementary school this year will work in a job that hasn’t been invented yet
49% of current jobs have the potential for machine replacement, with 60% having at least 1/3 of their activities automated
80% of the skills trained for in the last 50 years can now be outperformed by machines
At a global level, technically automatable activities touch the equivalent of 1.1 billion employees and $15.8 trillion in wages
“The emerging technologies have huge effect on the education of people. Only qualified and highly educated employees will be able to control these technologies.”
“The argument is simple: the change is here, there’s no avoiding it, so it’s time to adapt change. Institutions must change, need reform; there’s no use in improving a broken model, they need a full-scale transformation,
“Our students will have to succeed in a working environment which is increasingly globalized, automatized, virtualized, networked and flexible.

The college-zone
1. There isn’t enough current faculties with Industry 4.0 skills to fill the curriculum requirements.
2. Existing curricula is already congested, filling accreditation requirements. adding new material requires deletion of some existing content
3. Traditional credit-hour, semester-based course delivery may not facilitate rapid inclusion of Industry 4.0-specific content.
4. Rapidly changing technology has become the norm, but the academy is not agile.
5. The cost of equipment and facilities is prohibitive, especially rapidly changing tech
6. The university system favors and rewards research, and is designed to train students for graduate schools and research, which overshadows the work to develop quantities of Industry 4.0 skilled workers who will work in industry after an undergraduate degree.
7. University research is often given priority over workforce preparation. 8. Community colleges have to balance college-prep track against skilled-trades tracks, while the need for Industry 4.0 workers covers both.