ASU named 1 of 8 schools to train manufacturers in new nationwide initiative

Arizona State University was one of eight colleges selected to participate in the Foundry School, a national initiative that aims to train the next generation of manufacturing workers.

The U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Labor are partnering to hold 17 sessions across the eight universities where current manufacturing leaders and executives will meet with university leadership to share best practices for training and developing new workers.

Danny Seiden, president of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show the new program highlights how involved ASU is in the local manufacturing industry.

“It is meant to make sure that we have the workforce that we need for this goal of President Trump’s to onshore manufacturing, to reignite the golden age of manufacturing in the U.S., and this is part of it. So, ASU is now going to really be the recipient … [of] a lot of attention, a lot of grants and again, a lot of focus,” Seiden said.

The industry leaders who participate will be from the U.S., South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and India.

ASU has already partnered with TSMC Arizona to launch a free semiconductor program.

Seiden emphasized this will also boost ASU’s already established education-to-career pathways.

“We’re talking about the largest public university in the country now and … ASU is like a world within a world within a world. If you’re in Barrett, you’re … basically in a Harvard-like education model based in Tempe,” Seiden said. “They’ve done such a good job with that. If you want to get into engineering right now, the largest engineering class in the country right now [is] happening at ASU.”

The university’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering currently has 33,000 students enrolled.

The other universities participating are Stanford University, Ohio State University, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, Penn State, Georgia Tech and the University of Kansas.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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