Upskilling a modern manufacturing workforce

More than 100 years ago, Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Technical Schools to provide practical, technical education to workers in Pittsburgh, many of whom worked in steel mills and other manufacturing operations.

While that school is now an elite university that trains leading engineers and computer scientists, manufacturing workers are still learning core skills here.

Carnegie Mellon University’s Manufacturing Futures Institute (MFI) has joined Catalyst Connection and the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute to create SkillMill19^TM, a new workforce training initiative designed to upskill local workers needed in increasingly technical manufacturing jobs.

The program is designed to address critical workforce development needs by bridging skills gaps in many of the same cutting-edge technologies that our faculty are advancing through their research and education.

Gary Fedder, Faculty Director, Manufacturing Futures Institute

“The program is designed to address critical workforce development needs by bridging skill gaps in many of the same cutting-edge technologies that our faculty are advancing through their research and education,” explained Gary Fedder, faculty director of MFI.

With funding from the Department of Defense to the ARM Institute and program oversight managed by Catalyst Connection, Skill Mill19^TM is providing free skills training in advanced manufacturing technologies for both jobseekers and incumbent workers in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Since the program launched two years ago, more than 600 workers have enrolled in the dozens of classes held at Mill 19, where MFI is located with Catalyst Connection and the ARM Institute.

Mara Peduto, Catalyst Connection’s workforce program manager, explained that they used feedback from multiple employers to determine that employers preferred the full-day class format and indicated a need for a wide range of class offerings.

We help employers identify and address workforce skill gaps while introducing workers to new technologies and skills they may pursue more deeply.

Mara Peduto, Workforce Program Manager, Catalyst Connection

Students can enroll in basic classes such as workplace safety and blueprint reading; managerial and operations related classes; and classes that introduce workers to advanced technical skills in robotics, artificial intelligence, circuit design and assembly, and Internet of Things (IoT).

“We’re not trying to be a training provider; they’re already out there,” said Peduto, who explained that the short form, often one-day, training sessions help employers identify and address skill gaps in their workforces and encourage employees to explore and learn new skills they may want to further develop.

All of the classes are taught at Mill 19, including both those offered by Catalyst Connection, as well as those taught by Ryan Bates, manager of MFI’s Learning Lab and Experience Center. Bates has taught courses in 3D Computer Assisted Design (CAD), circuit board layout, 3D printing, soldering and electrical assembly, robotics, and hand and power tools.

One of the most popular courses he teaches is Electrical Technician Basics. After a two-hour classroom lesson, including a basic introduction and safety review, the students spend the rest of the full-day class in an immersive hands-on lesson.

They install a single outlet and wire it to a power source, then add a second outlet to interior wall frames that were built to represent what electricians would typically encounter. Students also wire various switches, outlet, and light fixture scenarios, including a three-way switch and light circuit.

“I want them to follow the diagram and interpret the same type of a schematic an electrical technician would use,” said Bates.

In the Hand and Power Tools class, Bates again starts with a basic introduction and safety lessons before the hands-on learning begins. The students’ first assignment is to take measurements of a wooden moving dolly and fill in their drawing with the dimensions they will need to follow in fabricating their own dolly. The project gives them an opportunity to use a variety of measuring tools; circular, track, and jig saws; a drill press; impact and hand drills; a sander; and router.

According to Bates, the feedback he has received has been overwhelmingly positive and confirms that workers see the training sessions as a way they can improve their performance and their career opportunities. And as one participant noted, “I will use the training as a steppingstone for moving up at my company.”