Norma Noble, Oklahoma’s Secretary of Commerce for Workforce Development, experienced Pioneer Technology Center’s (PTC) Manufacturing Education Training System (METS) skills trailer first hand at the Central Oklahoma Manufacturers’ Association Conference. Noble expressed the need for more initiatives like the skills lab to help fill the pipeline for Oklahoma’s current and future workforce. Pictured with Noble, left to right are Tim Burg, Ponca City Development Authority; Dennis Ruttman, PTC; Stephen Marquardt, PTC; Norma Noble; Laurence Beliel, PTC; and Justin Smedley, Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education.
Pioneer Technology Center (PTC) staff members; Dennis Ruttman, Laurence Beliel and Stephen Marquardt, along with the Ponca City Development Authority’s (PCDA), Tim Burg, hosted manufacturing leaders in PTC’s mobile skills lab at the Central Oklahoma Manufacturers’ Association Conference and CareerTech Business and Industry Services (BIS) directors’ meeting this past month. The meetings were held at Moore Norman Technology Center’s South Pennsylvania Avenue campus, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Special guest at the conference was Norma Noble, Deputy Secretary of Commerce for Workforce Development. Along with other conference participants, Noble experienced the METS skills lab first hand. "Someone finally listened to us," said one industry leader.
The Oklahoma City trip was the mobile lab’s first official engagement. The idea for the mobile skills lab was initiated two year’s ago as a result of Beliel’s dream for "relevant" training for kids. He wanted to help students connect the importance of math and science to their future workplace. PTC’s Manufacturing Education Training System (METS) embraced Beliel’s idea and gave him the support and connections that he needed to implement his dream and even took it further than he ever imagined.
The METS mobile lab has a state-of -the-art look and feel. The mobile lab houses several pieces of high-end and hi-tech equipment. Included in the inventory is a CNC mill and lathe, a 3D scanner, a 3D printer, a pass through laser, a plasma torch, a welding unit, PLC workstations, and more. According to Sherry Lassiter with Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Bits and Atoms, "Basically, the lab is a factory on wheels. "
"Listening to industry and wanting to be part of the solution to the workforce crisis triggered our equipment needs and physical setup," stated Ruttman. "Everything in that lab can be rearranged to meet our training needs." In an effort to meet critical workforce needs, the METS skills lab mobility gives it the ability to travel and go on-site to schools, companies, and industry related events and train participants in programming, computer aided drafting, welding, machining and more. In this manner, Pioneer Tech is helping fill Oklahoma’s workforce pipeline for today and tomorrow.
A lot of fuss is being made about PTC’s mobile lab. Massachusetts Institute for Technology’s (MIT) Center for Bits and Atoms has invited PTC’s METS skills lab to be a part of their Fab Lab group. The Fab Lab program encourages outreach to individuals to not just learn about science and engineering, but to actually engage in it. And it just so happens that’s what the METS mobile skills lab is all about.
For more information about Pioneer Technology Center’s METS skills lab or to schedule the lab, call 580-718-4222.