When the skills and competencies needed by industry have been fully identified, an Advanced Manufacturing Facility will be outfitted to support student education and development. Unmet training and educational needs, previously identified in various disciplines, will be supported and include machining, rapid prototyping, specialty welding, and lean manufacturing. Facilities focused on training students, incumbent workers, and unemployed persons in transition for these specific disciplines are either non-existent or scarce within Burlington County and the southern New Jersey region.
The state-of-the-art Advanced Manufacturing Facility will be designed and outfitted in two phases: Phase 1 will be used for summer camps and workshops prior to the first cohort of certified students entering the following fall semester. The facility will house machining equipment, including four CNC milling machines, four CNC lathes, as well as supporting equipment including band saws, grinders, parts washing stations, sandblast cabinets, etc. Phase 2 will include the creation of welding stations, including MIG (metal inert gas), TIG (tungsten inert gas), SMAW (shielded metal arc or stick welding), and spot welding. Additional equipment will include 3-D printers, programmable logic controllers (PLC), variable frequency drives, and other equipment supporting the industry-relevant skills and competencies identified in the planned industry forums.
