Skill up: Training workers on additive manufacturing, cybersecurity, industrial maintenance and more

Manufacturing would be nothing without the people in offices and on plant floors to manage supplies, run assembly lines, build things, observe quality and, in short, do the work. Yet, qualified manufacturing workers are perennially in short supply. This digest covers recent initiatives, public-private partnerships, and educational efforts to train and source the next generation of manufacturing workers.

Dalio Education, a nonprofit organization, announced January 13 that it would invest $2.5 million in the Manufacturing and Technical Community Hub (MATCH) nonprofit job training program in New Haven, Connecticut. According to local news source CT Insider, the grant will be used to support MATCH’s programs for 18-year-old and older trainees to receive hands-on manufacturing training. In a statement, MATCH Board chair Marcia LaFemina praised Dalio and said that manufacturing careers can be a catalyst for economic mobility.

Central Oregon Community College received a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the college announced January 21. According to local news site Central Oregon Daily News, the grant will go towards creating seven tracks in industrial maintenance, structural steel welding, entry-level fabrication and more. To make the courses, COCC said it would partner with a number of local manufacturers, including Nosler, BasX Solutions and Outback Manufacturing. In a statement, COCC President Greg Pereira said the grant will let the college expand into welding, fabrication and CNC education.

Sincair Community College near Dayton, Ohio will receive $1.145 million from the federal government to become an “enhanced manufacturing education center,” or EMEC. The college indicated it would spend $30 million of its own money to turn a former field house into a training site to teach students on cybersecurity and other technological skills. In a statement, Sinclair President Steve Johnson called the launch of the EMEC “a declaration of Sinclair’s unwavering commitment to the future of our students and our region.”

Students in the Allentown School District in Pennsylvania can receive introductions to advanced manufacturing techniques starting January 23. According to Lehigh Valley Live, a local news source, the Pennsylvania College of Technology will offer students in the school district there classroom lessons on manufacturing concepts, networking and pre-apprenticeship programs with local companies. The instruction will consist of self-led online modules and instructor-led labs and run through May 8.

Comau, an automation solution company, held a workshop January 8 featuring Harvard Business School professors that gave students the opportunity explore the technology and skills used for developing new robots for manufacturing automation. According to a company release, the workshop also included a “hands-on programming experience” and new developments in “collaborative robotics, intelligent intralogistics and flexible automation.”