The Industrial Science Report: Closing the lab-to-factory gap through workforce development and industrial scale-up
Key Highlights
- Purdue's Manufacturing Extension Partnership targeted Lean training doubled Flexaust's production capacity without new equipment.
- The U.S. Department of Labor's American Manufacturing Apprenticeship Fund incentivizing the hiring and training of technicians skilled in modern manufacturing technologies.
- UConn's Tech Park, supported by Tescan Group, aims to become a global hub for semiconductor research, integrating advanced laser processing and materials science for faster chip production.
- NCInnovation's $10 million investment accelerates university research into industrial applications.
- A new Ph.D. program by UK universities and industry partners addresses the biomanufacturing scale-up gap.
Each week The Industrial Science Report looks at the coordinated push to close the gap between science innovation in the lab and scaled production on the factory floor. This week’s stories—workforce training through the Purdue University Manufacturing Extension Partnership, apprenticeship funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, semiconductor industrialization at the University of Connecticut with Tescan Group, applied reliability research backed by NCInnovation Inc., and Ph.Ds ready for the industrial workforce from University College London—the unifying theme is industrial readiness and a deliberate effort to make new technologies, materials, and processes scalable and supported by skilled workers. These groups are building the engine for advanced technology adoption, including the people, the process control, the applied R&D, and the industrial partnerships that turn innovation into value.
Purdue MEP training supports manufacturer production growth and capacity expansion
Doubling output without buying any new equipment is every plant manager’s dream, and Indiana-based Flexaust did it largely through training. This manufacturer highlight from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows that Lean fundamentals can unlock hidden capacity without a big budget. For manufacturers like Flexaust, workforce training is as important as equipment upgrades, and guidance from groups like Purdue MEP are helping manufacturers build their own internal practices to sustain continuous improvement.
The Purdue MEP (Manufacturing Extension Partnership) provided targeted training that enabled Flexaust, a small manufacturer located in Warsaw, Indiana, to increase production rates and expand capacity with advanced manufacturing tools and technology. The manufacturer makes flexible hose, ducting, and accessories used in industrial and commercial air, fume, dust, and lightweight material handling applications. It worked with Purdue MEP to develop a custom training plan with courses on value stream mapping, problem solving, 5S, set-up reduction and quick changeover, and total productive maintenance. With MEP expert guidance, the company optimized production processes, improved labor utilization, and implemented quality systems that supported scalable output. Due to the incorporation of 5S techniques on its mandrel line, production has doubled from 100 feet per shift to 200 feet per shift. With a demonstration of increased capacity, corporate leaders at Flexaust have committed $120,000 in capital expenditures for new machining. This example underscores the role of outreach and training programs in elevating U.S. manufacturing competitiveness.
U.S. Department of Labor launches American Manufacturing Apprenticeship Fund
Training for new workers is especially important to attract the younger generations to manufacturing, and who couldn’t use some extra cash to train them. The American Manufacturing Apprenticeship Fund would like to help grow the number technicians who understand modern equipment, controls, and reliability practices. At an industry level, there’s a mismatch between how fast technology is advancing and how slowly skilled labor pipelines have traditionally moved. Industry could use a $36 M boost.
The U.S. Department of Labor launched the American Manufacturing Apprenticeship Incentive Fund, a $35.8 million cooperative agreement with the Arkansas Department of Commerce, Division of Workforce Services to support and expand advanced manufacturing registered apprenticeships nationwide. Under this pay-for-performance model, participating employers receive $3,500 for each new apprentice hired to help build skills that meet real-time industry labor needs. This initiative is administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration and supports broader federal strategies and executive orders on expanding registered apprenticeships in manufacturing.
UConn Tech Park to become global semiconductor research and innovation hub
The Industrial Science Report has covered semiconductor manufacturing innovations, such as recent advances in materials science, 3D printing, process innovations, and workforce initiatives to ultimately develop better chips and faster production methods. Semiconductor production is traditionally time consuming, resource-intensive, and prone to failures, and in order to ramp up U.S. chip production, we need more partnerships like the University of Connecticut Tech Park. The technology hub is supported by Tescan Group, a manufacturer of electron microscopes and scientific instrumentation plans, which acquired FemtoInnovations, a UConn-based startup for ultrashort pulsed micro and nanomachine laser technologies (important for speed and precision in the semiconductor manufacturing process.) This initiative will help connect materials science, equipment design, advanced process development with real-world industrialization of advanced laser processing, correlative microscopy, and hardware security technologies.
The UConn Tech Park is positioned to become a key global research and innovation hub for semiconductor technologies through a collaboration from Tescan Group’s acquisition of UConn startup FemtoInnovations. This partnership, housed at the Park’s Innovation Partnership Building, will accelerate research and industrial applications of nanomachining laser technologies, which are critical for semiconductor manufacturing, hardware security, and advanced medical devices. The on-site manufacturing presence marks the first of its kind within the Tech Park, enabling joint research, student fellowship opportunities, and enhanced access to state-of-the-art equipment. UConn faculty member Sina Shahbazmohamadi, an associate professor in biomedical engineering, has been developing the ultrafast FemtoChisel integrated laser system with two colleagues through FemtoInnovations, which licenses the technology from UConn through the University’s Technology Commercialization Services. Tescan’s purchase will create a dedicated Laser Technology Business Unit in the Innovation Partnership Building, along with the new FLAME (FemtoInnovations Laser Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering) Center to serve as the nexus of research.
NCInnovation approves $10 Million to advance research across 11 UNC campuses
Too much promising engineering research stalls in the lab, never reaching the plant floor, and industry needs more programs like NCInnovation. The $10 million investment is designed to close that gap, accelerating applied university research into deployable industrial technologies and supporting 13 specific projects. One project from University of North Carolina at Charlotte researchers is developing advanced reliability-monitoring tools for power grid, power generation factories, and renewable energy systems.
“Our system is designed to capture transient assembly-induced stresses in power conditioning focused products. A distinguishing difference in our approach is monitoring of key components in situ. In this manner we can assess reliability concerns that may arise during manufacturing that cannot be assessed at the component level. Our method therefore, may be more effective and time efficient in identifying production items prone to early life failure (i.e. infant mortality). In this manner we increase delivered reliability by eliminating these items and increase production through-put by reducing manufacturing interval testing,” says Jim Gafford, primary investigator for the project and associate director for applied research and professor of practice in the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center at UNC-Charlotte.
Typical failure modes for power semiconductors include substrate delamination and wire bond lift-off. Defects are difficult to detect as pre-packaged devices, and in place it may only show a faint defect signature. “The metrology and data acquisition system we are developing seeks to amplify these signatures to detect parametric drift,” Gafford says. The system detects specific deviations that lead to early-life failures. “Through time with the collection of larger qualified data sets, we anticipate new analytical tools, possibly driven by machine learning algorithms, will further increase the reliability of identification,” he adds.
The system uses high-bandwidth, non-invasive current and voltage sensing to capture the switching transients where these failure signatures reside. The system also analyzes thermal-mechanical response times identifying anomalies outside of the statistical norm.
NCInnovation Inc. approved $10 million in funding to support 13 applied research projects across 11 University of North Carolina (UNC) system universities, continuing its mission to accelerate university-to-industry technology development. The funding cycle brings NCInnovation’s cumulative support to $29 million and includes projects addressing advanced manufacturing and materials science, next-generation medical technologies, cybersecurity education tools, and AI-enabled solutions. Several grants directly target innovations that could strengthen manufacturing reliability and competitive economic growth in North Carolina, including composite durability enhancements and advanced reliability monitoring tools for industrial equipment. The approval process involved multi-stage evaluation and subject-matter expert review, reinforcing the organization’s role in translating university research into commercial and workforce impact.
U.K. consortium launches Ph.D. program to bridge biomanufacturing scale-up gap
The scale-up gap between controlled laboratory biology and the variability and economics of full product is the foucs of a new doctoral training program launched by University College London, Imperial College London, and Aberystwyth University, in partnership with BASF and Bühler Group. This PhD program trains engineers to think about industrial-scale manufacturing from the start, where biology, equipment design, economics, and operability all work together.
A new doctoral training program called the Sustainable Centre for AI-Leveraged Efficiency in Industrial Biotechnology (SCALE-IB) has been launched by a consortium including University College London, Imperial College London, and Aberystwyth University in partnership with BASF and Bühler Group, and funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. The program addresses a critical gap between laboratory-scale engineering biology research and industrial-scale biomanufacturing by equipping Ph.D. students with technical, economic, and regulatory skills needed for scaling biological processes to large-volume production. SCALE-IB integrates academic expertise with real-world industrial challenges, offering students placements and practical experience across the biomanufacturing chain, including feedstock sourcing and fermenter configuration to product extraction and refinement. Training will emphasize systems thinking to ensure graduates can design processes that are economically viable and scalable, advancing workforce readiness for next-generation biomanufacturing sectors.
About the Author
Anna Townshend
managing editor
Anna Townshend has been a journalist and editor for almost 20 years. She joined Control Design and Plant Services as managing editor in June 2020. Previously, for more than 10 years, she was the editor of Marina Dock Age and International Dredging Review. In addition to writing and editing thousands of articles in her career, she has been an active speaker on industry panels and presentations, as well as host for the Tool Belt and Control Intelligence podcasts. Email her at [email protected].