Report details curricula approaches for advanced manufacturing

Renewing the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy has long been a concern for the nation’s communities, schools and policymakers; the state of manufacturing in the country became an even more pronounced issue during last year’s presidential election campaign. A coalition of educational and manufacturing experts released a report Monday making suggestions to ensure that advanced manufacturing students are prepared for seismic industry shifts. An Expert Education Team assembled by the Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, released the first of the six schedule reports on Monday, calling for higher ed institutions to find ways to adjust their curricula. The report said it is incumbent that students become better equipped to take on manufacturing jobs that are concerned with lightweighting technology and processes.