Massachusetts is developing a state-based training and career pathway model - a “bridge” for technicians that meets the talent needs of the Manufacturing USA Institutes and that can be deployed nationwide. Massachusetts will design and develop a curriculum bridge that spans gaps between the Commonwealth’s current, state-wide advanced manufacturing programs and the needs of the Manufacturing USA Institutes. The curriculum will be available through vocational programs, high schools, community colleges, and supporting universities, and will pull students toward careers in Manufacturing USA technologies. This model will also integrate a re-branding, re-naming, marketing, and recruiting campaign for advanced manufacturing careers, taking advantage of the natural appeal of the Manufacturing USA vision and technologies to prospective trainees. The deliverable is a state-wide integrated program, developed in three phases from prototyping to state-wide deployment, that will provide a stackable pathway from existing technician training programs to technician skills required by Manufacturing USA technologies that can be duplicated as a national model. The “MassBridge” project will be implemented in three phases over three years, with each phase being approximately 1 year: Phase 1: Project Formation, Benchmarking, Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Roadmap, Curriculum Identification/Development, Metrics, Marketing and Branding Plan, and Quick Wins; Phase 2: Incorporation of Lessons Learned, and Scaling; and Phase 3: State-Wide Deployment, and Development of National Framework. 

 

MIT’s IKIM will lead a multi-year roadmap to capture the industry’s workforce needs for Manufacturing USA processes, modeled after, and tracking the technology roadmaps of the institutes. IKIM will include, in a phased approach, the roadmaps for Integrated Photonics, Industrial Robotics, Flexible Hybrid Electronics, Advanced Functional Fibers, Additive Manufacturing, Lightweight metals, and/or others based on regional industrial need, institute interest, and cooperation. The team will examine the multi-year technology roadmaps of the six institutes understudy and identify and map technician training required to intersect the development of the technologies in each stage, defining both what skills are needed and by when. IKIM will create intersections between competencies required by Manufacturing USA roadmaps and those articulated by industry interviews, to inform the curriculum development that occurs in the project.