A Ten-Year Experiment in Industrial Automation Education
Bakersfield College's Industrial Automation program has reached its tenth year with a clear indication that industrial automation education is becoming closely connected to regional workforce requirements.
The program began as part of California's original community college bachelor's degree pilot, with a practical objective: develop local engineering and automation talent for employers that were struggling to recruit qualified personnel.
Its first graduating class included only seven students. A decade later, the program has produced a record graduating class of 34 students and reports a 98% job-placement rate among graduates seeking employment.
From an industrial perspective, that progression is more significant than the enrollment numbers alone. Automation systems are becoming increasingly complex, but the availability of technicians and engineers who understand both control hardware and production processes has not always kept pace.
Industry Demand Created the Program
The program's early development was driven by a straightforward industrial problem.
Local employers needed people capable of working with automation systems, but the regional talent pool was too small. Companies were therefore recruiting outside Kern County and, in some cases, outside the United States.
That situation illustrates an important characteristic of industrial automation employment: companies do not simply need programmers.
Modern automation personnel may need to understand PLCs, industrial networks, sensors, robotics, motion systems, machine vision, electrical wiring, troubleshooting, and production software. They also need to understand how these technologies interact inside an operating plant.
Bakersfield College appears to have structured its program around this broader requirement rather than treating automation as a narrowly defined programming discipline.
The Laboratory Is Becoming the Real Classroom
The expansion of the robotics laboratory is particularly important.
Students are now being exposed to industrial robots, computer vision, automation controllers, and newer robotic platforms, including humanoid and quadrupedal robots.
This type of laboratory environment provides something that conventional classroom instruction cannot easily reproduce: the opportunity to troubleshoot physical systems.
In a real automation installation, a fault rarely appears as a clean software error. A technician may need to determine whether the problem originates from a sensor, wiring connection, I/O module, controller logic, network communication, mechanical positioning, or application software.
That diagnostic process is one of the most valuable skills an automation program can teach.
Robotics Skills Are Expanding Beyond Robot Programming
Current students are learning to build and program robots, but the broader value lies in understanding complete automation architectures.
A robot normally operates as one component within a larger system. Its performance can depend on PLC control, safety circuits, vision systems, industrial Ethernet, sensors, servo drives, end-of-arm tooling, and production databases.
Therefore, future automation engineers need system-level knowledge rather than isolated robotics skills.
The experience of Bakersfield College's students reflects this direction. Students participate in robotics activities, internships, laboratory work, and employer interactions while developing practical troubleshooting capabilities.
Computer Vision Is Changing Automation Technician Roles
The experience of alumnus Francisco Hernandez provides another useful example.
He now works with a computer vision system that identifies defects and sorts agricultural products on a production line.
This represents a broader transition in industrial automation. Vision systems are increasingly moving inspection tasks from human operators toward automated sensing and classification.
However, deploying machine vision does not eliminate the need for technical personnel.
Someone still needs to configure cameras, validate detection parameters, troubleshoot communication problems, maintain equipment, investigate false detections, and connect inspection results to the production-control system.
In other words, automation changes the technical workload rather than simply removing it.
Internships Create a Direct Connection to Industry
The program's relationship with employers is another important factor behind its reported employment results.
Its annual career fair attracts companies from multiple regions, while students can gain practical experience through internships and laboratory positions.
This industry connection reduces the distance between academic training and production requirements.
For automation employers, an applicant who has already worked with controllers, robots, vision systems, wiring, and troubleshooting presents a different profile from someone whose experience is limited to theoretical coursework.
The same principle applies to national laboratories and advanced manufacturing organizations, where automation personnel may work with robotics, engineering systems, and specialized control technologies.
Automation Workforce Development Is Becoming a System Requirement
The Bakersfield example also highlights a larger industrial issue.
The automation workforce shortage cannot be solved simply by purchasing more robots.
Every automated production system creates requirements for engineering, commissioning, programming, maintenance, diagnostics, cybersecurity, safety validation, and lifecycle support.
As plants introduce more connected equipment, the required skill set becomes broader.
A modern automation technician may increasingly operate between electrical engineering, controls engineering, information technology, robotics, and manufacturing operations.
That makes interdisciplinary education particularly valuable.
Robots Do Not Automatically Eliminate Jobs
Professor Roy Allard's observation that robots typically replace dull, dangerous, or dirty work reflects an important distinction in industrial automation.
The primary purpose of many robotic applications is to transfer repetitive or hazardous tasks from people to machines.
The human workforce then moves toward activities requiring troubleshooting, process optimization, programming, maintenance, supervision, and engineering judgment.
From my perspective, the more accurate description is not "robots replace workers."
Instead, robots redistribute human work across the production system.
The economic outcome depends heavily on whether companies invest in the workforce required to operate and improve those automated systems.
The Next Challenge Is Scaling the Training Infrastructure
The program's growth creates a problem that many successful technical programs eventually encounter: capacity.
More students require more instructors, laboratory equipment, workstations, robotics platforms, electrical training systems, and practical project space.
This is not simply an educational administration issue.
Industrial automation equipment has physical limitations. Students cannot effectively learn commissioning, wiring, robot operation, or troubleshooting if laboratory access is too limited.
Consequently, expanding the number of graduates requires parallel investment in training infrastructure.
Humanoid Robots Are Interesting, but the Fundamentals Still Matter
The planned use of humanoid and quadrupedal robots is an indication of where robotics education may be heading.
These platforms can introduce students to advanced perception, mobility, human-machine interaction, autonomous navigation, and robotic control.
However, the educational value should not come from the novelty of the robot itself.
Students still need to understand the fundamentals: sensors, actuators, control logic, communication networks, safety functions, motion control, diagnostics, and system integration.
Those principles remain applicable even when the physical form of the robot changes.
The Next Decade Will Be About Integration
Bakersfield College's first decade demonstrates how closely automation education can align with regional industrial demand.
Its growth from seven graduates to a 34-student graduating class is one measurable indicator. The reported 98% job-placement rate provides another.
More importantly, the program is moving toward a model in which robotics, computer vision, industrial control, internships, and employer relationships operate together.
That direction matches the evolution of industrial automation itself.
The next generation of automation professionals will not work with isolated machines. They will work with interconnected systems in which robotics, PLCs, vision, networking, software, data, and human operators interact continuously.
The real challenge for the next ten years will therefore not be teaching students how to operate robots.
It will be teaching them how to engineer, integrate, diagnose, and continuously improve complete automated production systems.
