3Degrees, America Makes Discuss Workforce Development with Secretary of Commerce

America Makes (the national additive manufacturing institute) and 3Degrees (a 3D Printing consulting firm) hosted U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo at the hard technology accelerator mHub for a roundtable discussion on workforce development. Raimondo met with local and national government representatives, and partners who are developing workforce training around the country.

The visit highlighted the recent completion of the Advanced Manufacturing Experience (AMx) course on Chicago’s West Side. Led by 3Degrees in collaboration with the nonprofit West Side Forward, the AMx program is an immersive, 3D printing apprenticeship program to train students ages 22-50 years old. The course is aimed to bring the excitement and opportunity for jobs in the advanced manufacturing sector to underserved communities. Several AMx participants attended the event and shared their experiences with the technology program’s impact.

According to the hosts, the 3D Printing industry has grown up to 30% over the past five years, adding thousands of new collar jobs to the American workforce. Yet the AM industry, like many industries today, has difficulty filling those positions. New collar positions, like the ones created by industrial 3D Printing, value technical skills over college degrees — something difficult to find in today’s workforce. 3Degrees says it is working to solve this problem.

“My clients tell me time and again that they have well-paying, benefit-eligible jobs that they cannot fill,” says Mike Vasquez, 3Degrees CEO. “It seems the U.S. has forgotten how to train its workforce for today’s jobs that do not require a college degree. On the flip side, access to finding jobs in this industry is not straightforward.”

The pilot course was a combination of in-person instruction, tours of 3D printing facilities such as Renishaw, Impossible Objects and mHub, as well as industry mentors from companies such as Siemens Energy, EOS, Desktop Metal, Met-l-Flo, Dyndrite and Forecast3D. Throughout the course, the class explored different technologies and designed their own parts using the Future of Jewelry online software. Students had the opportunity to receive the Certified Manufacturing Technologist (CMfgT) certification from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers upon completing the course. The curriculum was provided by America Makes.

“The mission of the America Makes Education and Workforce Development program is to empower our members to engage at the local level through access to our national network of credentialed materials and expertise,” says Josh Cramer, America Makes education and workforce director. “The program implemented by 3Degrees and their partners epitomizes exactly what we hope to achieve with our EWD program.”

Several iterations of the course will be deployed in 2022 starting in March with the aim to expand the program to areas across the U.S. later in the year.