The Kummer Institute Center for Advanced Manufacturing, working with two other schools in the state, is embarking on a mission to help Missouri manufacturers become and stay globally competitive by educating their future employees — engineering and technical students — in advanced manufacturing technology and modern production equipment.
The project, Bridging the Manufacturing Critical Skills Gap, was awarded $9.1 million in Missouri’s FY 2025 budget, which included a historic level of support for the University of Missouri System. The project was awarded in collaboration with East Central College and St. Charles Community College. The project is part of the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development’s MoExcels Workforce Initiative.
“Missouri needs to prepare students to help their future employers become and stay globally competitive manufacturers known for innovative products and processes,” says Richard Billo, director of the Kummer Institute Center for Advanced Manufacturing and distinguished professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. “That’s why it’s absolutely imperative that Missouri’s higher education institutions increase the pipeline of engineers and technicians ready for employment in Missouri manufacturing companies.”
S&T will modernize its undergraduate manufacturing curriculum to incorporate new technologies, workforce-aligned coursework and hands-on experience with production‑scale equipment. All new course material and equipment that will be used to help educate S&T manufacturing students has been selected by Missouri manufacturers that hire these students.
St. Charles Community College plans to offer new degree and certificate programs to support emerging technology. In addition, St. Charles Community College and S&T will develop a strategy to streamline student progression into industry employment, and to expand K–12 outreach to create awareness of manufacturing careers. The collaborative
outreach is expected to impact more than 6,000 students over the grant’s 12-month performance period.
East Central College, a two-year community college based in Union, Missouri, will construct a state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing center as part of its planned new campus in Rolla.