According to Wohlers Associates, the global Additive Manufacturing (AM) market is expected to reach $21 billion by 2020. The Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies, as a core component of the Industry 4.0 revolution, adds two key elements to the innovation: speed and customization of the products. As AM creates a shift paradigm in the value chain, transforming business as we know it, it’s vital to understand the AM processes. The project focuses on the education of AM technologies and of Technology Entrepreneurship. The target group we identified (estimated at 931 pers.) is defined by learners (undergraduate, master students and PhD students), teaching staff, invited teachers, professionals, industry representatives, and hobbyists. The project consortium is made up of 4 universities (UPB, ULBS, LU, PCz). The partners will create and improve the educational materials and other intellectual outputs of the project and also organize dissemination and multiplier events. The partners' competences are from complementary domains, in order to create a synergy effect throughout the entire implementation of the project. The fields of competences are as follows: UPB - AM technologies, management and entrepreneurship; ULBS - IT, IoT and ICT; LU - High Tech AM and business development; PCz - Entrepreneurship education, management and ICT. The consortium team is made up of partner teams in an anti-MECE organization chart and of technical and financial team. The management team is made up of: Project Manager, the Coordinating Committee, the External Advisory Panel. The project management methodology includes: agreeing on project meetings and working agendas for all partners, distribution of tasks, agreement of the tasks and their deadlines, establishing corrective measures when necessary, setting qualitative and quantitative indicators, signing project contract with the national agency that covers the project and finally, the centralization, evaluation and submission of financial and technical documents/ deliverables for interim reports and final report. Continuous contact between the partners is kept through electronic means: e-mails, telephone, video calls and conferences. The project manager ensures the effective implementation of the project, aims at accomplishing the tasks and allocating the allocated resources, receives, checks and reports on the progress of the project, checks the observance of the deadlines and the quality of the intermediate and final results, organizes the dissemination of the results, in research and intellectual or industrial property rights, ensures the link between the partners. A number of 9 intellectual outputs are assumed as results within the project: Comprehensive study on technology transfer, Business Plan Road-map, Curriculum Workbook for Intensive Summer Training Course, 3D Printing Guide, Training program and Open e-learning content, Open Multimedia Handbook for project based learning, Open Interactive Platform, Dissemination & Exploitation Campaign, Scientific papers. The project contains a number of 49 operational activities and 7 management activities. The operational activities (927 days) are divided in: 721days for trainers & 206 days for managers. The first objective of the project is to increase the number of non-business students who benefit from innovative training approaches and increased level of digital competences, by using a curricula that meet their learning needs and are also relevant to the labour market. A better use of open and on-line, blended, open interactive platforms, multi-disciplinary learning, and open interactive digital content it is assumed. The focus is on use of AM technologies for successful smart products development as subject of new business opportunities; Another objective is to increase the AM technologies literacy, develop the relevant and high-quality competences, and entrepreneurial ability to create start-ups from an idea of innovative Customized Smart Product by students enrolled at technical universities, in a project-based learning system. An extension of this objective is the use of AM technologies to cover broad subjects of high interest to the European community: foster employability, develop / disseminate tools for the assessment of cutting edge technical competences, as well as actions that apply "learning outcomes". The project also proposes to create an on-line community that actively participates in the continuous development of the digital educational materials and of AM solutions and projects, as part of Industry 4.0 revolution, with the goal of creating and maintaining an educational platform and an open source community where all intellectual outputs developed within the project are freely available. This will be the long-term project benefit and we assume that this community will foster the technology transfer from the universities to the market.
According to Grand View Research, Inc, the global Additive Manufacturing (AM) market is expected to reach $62.79 billion by 2028. AM technologies, as a core component of the Industry 4.0 revolution, add two key elements to the innovation: speed and customization of the products. As an emerging technology spanning generations, it’s vital to understand the 3D AM processes. The project focuses on the education of AM technologies and of Technology Entrepreneurship, based on the following objectives: OS1. Increasing the number of non-business students - attending a technical faculty - who benefit from innovative training approaches and increasing level of digital competences, by using a curricula that meet their learning needs and are also relevant to the labour market and societal needs, including better use of open and on-line, blended, work-based, open web-based interactive platforms, multi-disciplinary learning, and open interactive digital content, and providing more attractive training programmes, in line with individual needs and expectations and also with the new Industry 4.0 concept, focused on use of AM technologies for successful smart products development as subject of new business opportunities; OS2. Increasing the AM technologies literacy, development of relevant and high-quality competences, and entrepreneurial ability to develop start-ups starting from an idea of innovative Customized Smart Product - using AM technologies - by students enrolled at technical universities, in the context of the internationalization of activities and work within interdisciplinary and multinational teams, in a project-based learning system, emphasizing technology entrepreneurial techniques, commercialization and selling of technology based ideas, and patenting and protecting technology based ideas. OS2-extended: The use of AM technologies to cover broad subjects of high interest to the European community: foster employability, develop / disseminate tools for the assessment of cutting-edge technical competences, as well as actions that apply "learning outcomes". (OS1, OS2 and OS2-extended are the core objectives). OS3. Developing an on-line community that actively participates in the continuous development of the digital educational materials and of AM solutions and projects, as part of Industry 4.0 revolution. Build an on-line system that transforms technology entrepreneurship education into a continuous development process, with the goal of creating an educational platform and an open-source community where all intellectual outputs developed within the project are freely available. The identified target group was defined by learners, teaching staff, invited teachers, professionals, industry representatives, and hobbyists, as defined: • Learners: a) undergraduate students, attending a technical faculty who already have a basic knowledge of technology and engineering, b) graduate non-business students, attending a technical faculty who already have knowledge in the field of technology / manufacturing engineering, including product development and computer aided design skills and c) PhD students, having knowledge in the field of technology / manufacturing engineering, including product development and computer aided design skills, enrolled with technical subjects; • Teaching staff from participating university partners; • Invited teachers – teaching staff from non-participating partners and expert specialists; • Other interested stakeholders (professionals, industry representatives, researchers, hobbyists etc.). A total number of 1294 participants attended in E and C type project activities, as follows: E1 – 159 participants (43 project funded (PF)); E2 – 59 participants (50 PF); E3 – 41 participants (30 PF); E4 – 188 participants (53 PF); E5 – 68 participants (40 PF); E6 – 60 participants (30 PF); E7 – 459 participants (46 PF); C1 - 35 participants (2 PF); C2 - 131 participants (26 PF); C3 - 40 participants (2 PF); C4 - 36 participants (3 PF); C5 - 18 participants (8 PF). A number of 7 intellectual outputs (IO) were assumed and delivered as direct as results within the project, totalling up into 730 days for trainers and 215 days for managers and were made available as open-source materials on the project website and OIP. All IOs were disseminated during the multiplier events and other dissemination activities. The developed results helped improve technology literacy, 3D printing adoption and entrepreneurial practice amongst the target group, based on their feedback (see research papers published by authors). The long-term project benefit is the development of then on-line community that actively participates in the continuous improvement of digital educational materials and of AM solutions and projects, as part of Industry 4.0 revolution, by creating and maintaining an educational platform and an open-source community where all intellectual outputs developed within the project are freely available.