DMG MORI Partners With Illinois Tech to Open Chicago Training Center

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DMG MORI and Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) intend to establish a national center for advanced manufacturing, which aims to be one of the nation’s first joint university and industry academies to train, develop and empower the advanced manufacturing workforces of the future.

The partners hope the national center will play a critical role in preparing the workers needed to revive the advanced manufacturing industry in the U.S., including the semiconductor industry. According to the partners, this national center will directly help the Chicago region become a hub for developing and supporting a local and national workforce of high-growth, high-paying and high-tech manufacturing jobs. The national center will seek a wide array of industry and higher education partners across Illinois and the region to ensure the greatest possible economic and workforce development impact.

Located at Illinois Tech’s Bronzeville campus on the South Side of Chicago, the national center’s academy will provide in-person and online curricula that are aligned with industry workforce needs and economic and national security priorities. The launch of the national center is expected to help Illinois capitalize on the new programs and investments in the CHIPS Act by utilizing its industry and educational expertise to expand U.S. manufacturing.

James V. Nudo, chairman of DMG MORI Federal Services Inc., says, “America’s advanced manufacturing industry needs one very important thing to keep growing: trained workers. As a Chicago native, I am thrilled that DMG MORI will help meet this need through our National Center for Advanced Manufacturing with Illinois Tech. By combining DMG MORI’s industry expertise with Illinois Tech’s education and workforce programs, our national center will directly train workers for the high-paying, high-tech manufacturing jobs of the future and help Illinois become a hub for a  revitalization in American manufacturing.”

Raj Echambadi, president of the Illinois Institute of Technology, adds, “Chicago has long been an engine of technological opportunities for research, teaching, entrepreneurship and engagement and an attractive global destination for talent. As Chicago’s only technology-focused university, our national center for advanced manufacturing builds upon our historic strengths of relevance-inspired research and quality teaching, helping us seize this vital moment to advance technology as an innovation and opportunity engine for the entire region. We’re thrilled to be working with DMG MORI to cement Chicago as the center of a revitalized American manufacturing industry.”

To support manufacturing job growth in Chicago, the national center is focused on fueling the U.S. innovation workforce. The partners say that nearly 58% of all U.S. research and development takes place within the manufacturing sector. To help meet this challenge, the academy will look to serve as an innovation engine for the region, broadening access to advanced manufacturing and semiconductor R&D and workforce opportunities through work-relevant, industry-customized master’s and doctoral degree programs.

In establishing this national center, Illinois Tech and DMG MORI will pool their complementary capabilities to expand and modernize the manufacturing capabilities of the greater Chicago area and the Midwest in support of needs in the semiconductor, aerospace, defense, health care and automotive industries.