Preparing Engineers for Industry 4.0

From CustomerThink.  The when of Industry 4.0 is not a certainty - but engineers will need a broad education and mindset when 4.0 arrives.  A deep understanding of something is critical combined with a multidisciplinary experience will need to be the norm for Engineering Education 4.0.

"The term Industry 4.0 was coined by German Government which indicates use of latest digital technologies like Internet of Things in manufacturing industry. 

Sometimes it is also known as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). It refers to the 4th industrial revolution.

Here is the brief history of industrial revolutions: 

• Industry 1.0: use of water and steam power
• Industry 2.0: introduced mass production with the help of electric power.
• Industry 3.0: use of electronics and IT to further automate production.
• Industry 4.0: digitization of manufacturing with the use of Internet of Things, Big Data, automation of processes with Robots, 3D printing, drones & Artificial Intelligence (AI)

In the Internet of Things, sensors having the ability to collect real time data which can be used by manufacturers and producers. The advancements in big data and powerful analytics means that systems can scan through the huge sets of data and produce insights that can be acted upon quickly."