Meet Donna Zimmerman, one of the many talented college faculty developing the AMTEC manufacturing maintenance curriculum. Donna’s passion for teaching and for advanced manufacturing shines through in the hydraulics and pneumatics modules she has developed. Not only has she developed modules, but she has also led the charge in developing virtual simulations that promise to teach students problem-solving skills based on common faults that happen most often on plant floors.
Donna teaches industrial technology and advanced manufacturing at Ivy Tech Community College where she was formerly Program Chair for Pre-Engineering. Donna formed and advises the Robotics Club and formalized a workshop program to provide hands-on experiences with robotics to students from kindergarten to high schools. Donna is active in numerous committees at Ivy Tech, including the Service Learning Team and the Learning Centered Team.
Donna has an Associate’s Degree in Engineering Science from Jamestown Community College, a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State, and a Masters of Business Administration from Lynchburg College. She has worked in the engineering field designing robotic tooling and manufacturing equipment and has extensive industry experience in project, process, and tooling engineering where she worked as a Six Sigma Black Belt in project work and Green Belt training.
AMTEC has made great strides toward identifying and validating advanced manufacturing technical education needs and has begun developing a standardized curriculum its partner colleges can deliver in a modularized, hybrid format, in demand by automotive manufacturers and their suppliers.
Built on the principles of targeted instruction relevant to the needs of industry, offered in flexible formats that expedite time to completion and that award academic credit, the AMTEC maintenance mechatronics curriculum will enable colleges to assist automotive manufacturers’ in meeting one of their greatest needs:highly skilled workers who understand complicated processes and are able to predict, prevent, troubleshoot, and problem-solve in real time in a high-pressure environment.