{"680558":{"#nid":"680558","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Manufacturing the Workforce of the Future","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Air Force veteran Michael Trigger began looking for a new career in 2022, he became fascinated by artificial intelligence (AI). Trigger, who left the military in 1989 and then worked in telecommunications, corrections, and professional trucking, learned about an AI-enhanced robotics manufacturing program at the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gavectr.org\/\u0022\u003EVECTR Center\u003C\/a\u003E. This training facility in Warner Robins, Georgia, helps veterans transition into new careers. In 2024, he enrolled and learned how to program and operate robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs part of the class, Trigger made several trips to the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/manufacturing\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Manufacturing Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTMI). When the faculty asked if anyone wanted an internship, Trigger raised his hand.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cComing to Georgia Tech allowed me to clarify what I wanted to do,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve always been in service-based jobs, but I was interested in additive manufacturing,\u201d or 3D printing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor five months every weekday, Trigger drove from his home in Macon to Georgia Tech\u2019s campus for his internship. The paid internship took place at Tech\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ampf.research.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EAdvanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility\u003C\/a\u003E (AMPF). This 20,000-square-foot, reconfigurable facility\u0026nbsp;serves as the research and development arm of GTMI, functioning as a teaching laboratory, technology test bed, and workforce development space for manufacturing innovations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring his time there, Trigger focused on computer-aided manufacturing and met with faculty and students to learn about their research. The internship wasn\u2019t convenient, but it was worth it.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFrom our campus visits, I understood the mission of AMPF, so the fact they offered me this opportunity was huge for me,\u201d he said. \u201cThe internship had a big impact on my life in terms of the technical and soft skills I gained.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBuilding the Workforce\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaunching new careers is just one of AMPF\u2019s goals in testing new manufacturing and growing the future U.S. workforce. Since 2022, AMPF has improved the manufacturing process at all parts of the talent pipeline\u0026nbsp;\u2014 from giving corporate researchers space to test and adopt AI automation technologies to training and upskilling their employees. Collectively, GTMI and AMPF\u2019s efforts have led to a stronger, bigger network of manufacturers that other companies and the U.S. government can rely on.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are going to need to manufacture more in the U.S. \u2014 from computer chips to cars \u2014 so we want to create jobs and fill them,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/people\/thomas-kurfess\u0022\u003ETom Kurfess\u003C\/a\u003E, GTMI\u2019s executive director. \u201cWe need more people working in the manufacturing sector, and we\u0027ve got to make these jobs better and make people more efficient in them.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAI is one way to boost efficiency, but artificial intelligence won\u2019t cut humans out of the process entirely. Rather, people will be integral to monitoring the systems and advancing them. As AI becomes more widely adopted, a college degree won\u2019t necessarily be required to work in the AI field.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur workforce is going to need the next generation of employees to be amenable to retraining as the technology updates,\u201d said Aaron Stebner, a co-director of the Georgia Artificial Intelligence Manufacturing program (AIM). A statewide program, Georgia AIM helps fund AMPF and sponsored Trigger\u2019s internship. \u201cEducation is going to be more of a lifelong learning process, and Georgia Tech can be at the forefront of that.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile GTMI already integrates AI into many processes, it remains committed to staying ahead of the curve with the latest technologies that could boost manufacturing. The facility is in the process of an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/ai-and-automation-converge-expansion-georgia-techs-advanced-manufacturing-pilot-facility\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/ai-and-automation-converge-expansion-georgia-techs-advanced-manufacturing-pilot-facility\u0022\u003Eexpansion\u003C\/a\u003E that will nearly triple its size and make AMPF the leading facility for demonstrating what a hyperconnected and AI-driven manufacturing enterprise looks like. This will enable GTMI to build and sustain these educational pipelines, which\u0026nbsp;is key to its work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re developing the workforce \u003Cem\u003Efor\u003C\/em\u003E the future, not \u003Cem\u003Eof\u003C\/em\u003E the future,\u201d explained Donna Ennis, a co-director of Georgia AIM. \u201cIt\u2019s AI today, but it could be something else five years from now. We are focused on creating a highly skilled, resilient workforce.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPart of Georgia AIM\u2019s role is creating the pipelines that people like Trigger can follow. From bringing a mobile lab to technical colleges to hosting robotics competitions at schools, these efforts span the state of Georgia and touch populations from \u201cK to gray.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cKids don\u2019t say they want to be a manufacturer when they grow up, but that\u2019s because they don\u2019t know it\u2019s a viable career path,\u201d Ennis said. \u201cWe\u2019re making manufacturing cool again.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECreating Corporate Connection\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo create these job opportunities, GTMI is also partnering with corporations. Companies can join a consortium to access the AMPF research facilities and collaborate with researchers. Any size or type of company can take advantage of AMPF facilities \u2014 from corporations including AT\u0026amp;T and Siemens to small startups like Alegna, which licenses and commercializes Navy research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe ability to manufacture domestically is critical, not only for national security purposes, but also to keep the U.S. economically competitive,\u201d said Steven Ferguson, a principal research scientist and executive director for the GT Manufacturing 4.0 Consortium. \u201cHaving the AMPF puts Georgia Tech within the innovation epicenter for these areas and will help us reshore manufacturing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe benefit of such an arrangement is twofold. Companies can work with the newest manufacturing technologies and make their own advances, and Georgia Tech builds a network of manufacturers across the state and world that students can work with. For example, AT\u0026amp;T uses the AMPF to test sensors for expanding personal 5G networks, and George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/user\/1078\u0022\u003ECarolyn Seepersad\u003C\/a\u003E has Ph.D. students funded by a Siemens partnership through AMPF.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETrigger was able to connect and collaborate with some of these corporations and researchers during his internship. \u201cI told them about my interest in machine learning because I wanted to see how they were integrating machine learning into their research projects,\u201d he said. \u201cAll of them invited me to come by to observe and be part of the research.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStarting a New Path\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause of his research collaborations during his AMPF internship, Trigger now has a new focus. \u201cThe internship clarified for me that AI is where everybody is going,\u201d he explained. He wants to be at the forefront of AI manufacturing and hopes to pursue a certificate in machine learning next.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile he knows he still has much to learn, AMPF gave Trigger a foot in the door and confidence about the future. He \u2014 and other veterans like him\u0026nbsp;\u2014\u0026nbsp;will help build the workforce that propels America forward in manufacturing.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility is opening doors to new manufacturing careers.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u2019s Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility is opening doors to new manufacturing careers."}],"uid":"34541","created_gmt":"2025-02-18 15:35:03","changed_gmt":"2025-02-18 15:39:16","author":"Tess Malone","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-02-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-02-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676319":{"id":"676319","type":"image","title":"53043004606_427110f737_5k.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAMPF facility\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1739893125","gmt_created":"2025-02-18 15:38:45","changed":"1739893125","gmt_changed":"2025-02-18 15:38:45","alt":"AMPF","file":{"fid":"260084","name":"53043004606_427110f737_5k.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/02\/18\/53043004606_427110f737_5k.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/02\/18\/53043004606_427110f737_5k.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1049133,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/02\/18\/53043004606_427110f737_5k.jpg?itok=Ck-6XxWx"}}},"media_ids":["676319"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"186857","name":"go-gtmi"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193658","name":"Commercialization"},{"id":"193654","name":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"},{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETess Malone, Senior Research Writer\/Editor\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Etess.malone@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}