Automation Federation To Present At This Week's 2017 Workforce Development Institute Conference

As part of its mission to help develop a workforce capable of competing in advanced manufacturing, the Automation Federation will deliver a presentation on career pathways in industrial cybersecurity at this week’s 2017 Workforce Development Institute conference.

The conference, which will be conducted 25-28 January at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach in Newport Beach, California, is sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). It will bring together education leaders, manufacturing executives, and workforce and economic development experts from both government and private enterprise to assess current workforce challenges and consider new partnerships and perspectives.

The presentation by the Automation Federation, “Cybersecurity Career Pathways for Protecting Critical Infrastructure,” will be delivered at 11 a.m. on Friday, 27 January.

The Automation Federation has long regarded community colleges as essential for providing the community-based education and training needed to groom future automation and control professionals and engineers. For many years, it has been working with the AACC as well as individual community colleges to help expand students’ access to automation curriculum and degree programs.

In 2012, the Automation Federation worked with the AACC to establish the US Automation Community College Consortium. The member colleges that comprise the Consortium use the Automation Federation’s Automation Competency Model as the framework for developing an automation curriculum that will result in two-year degree programs in specific automation arenas and provide an educational track leading to a four-year degree program in automation, engineering, and technology.

The Automation Federation is currently working with numerous community colleges to develop automation curriculum leading to associate degrees in automation.

“The Automation Federation and the AACC have established a strong partnership around the Community College Consortium,” emphasizes Michael Marlowe, Managing Director and Director of Government Relations at the Automation Federation. “We’re confident that, by working together, we’re creating a pathway for a new generation of automation professionals that is so critical to the future of advanced manufacturing.”

About The Automation Federation
The Automation Federation is a global umbrella organization of twenty (20) member organizations and seven working groups engaged in automation activities. The Automation Federation enables its members to more effectively fulfill their missions, advance the science and engineering of automation technologies and applications, and develop the workforce needed to capitalize on the benefits of automation. The Automation Federation is the "Voice of Automation." For more information about the Automation Federation, visit www.automationfederation.org.