The University of Tennessee at Martin Department of Engineering announced plans to add a concentration in manufacturing engineering during a breakfast for area industry representatives Aug. 24. This will be the first and only training program for manufacturing engineers in Tennessee, and the university hopes to help fill a statewide employment gap in the industry, according to a news release.

“There is a high demand for manufacturing engineers (with undergraduate degrees) in the state, and nobody is producing them,” said Dr. Robert LeMaster, professor and interim chairman, UT Martin Department of Engineering. “Companies are having to hire engineers and train them in skills that they could learn as part of their education.”

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