Gateway Community and Technical College opens Center for Advanced Manufacturing

Gateway Community and Technical College, Northern Kentucky's leader in publicly supported career and technical education, threw open the doors of its new Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM) on Oct. 29 and invited the public to come look at this gem of workforce preparation and development.

Dozens of business, government and community leaders streamed into the sparkling new facility to see firsthand the simulated factory floor, advanced welding lab, mechatronics trainer and other state-of-the-art equipment used to teach advanced manufacturing skills to both new students and those already in the workforce.

The center's dedication is the culmination of five years of planning, funding, designing and building. The cement hadn't yet set on Gateway's Boone Campus in 2005 when college officials, community leaders and manufacturers began a joint effort to plan an education and training center to meet the region's needs for skilled manufacturing workers.

The Boone Campus sits within a 20-mile radius of 400 manufacturing firms. At the time the new facility was proposed, more than 600 manufacturing jobs were unfilled due to a lack of qualified applicants. A local study revealed another 3,600 advanced manufacturing jobs would become available as a result of a "silver tsunami" of retirements between 2005 and 2015. Hiring in the manufacturing sector has witnessed some recent increases but the region's need for a highly trained workforce remains critical.

Gateway took direct aim at serving this workforce requirement. With $28.5 million in funding from the Kentucky General Assembly, the college, part of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, began construction of the 103,000-square-foot CAM facility in 2007. Crews put the finishing touches on the building this past summer, and the CAM opened for classes in August.

The center is the largest facility of its type in KCTCS and offers a unique mix of classrooms, labs and student service functions. The building includes 16 general classrooms, a teaching and learning center, library and information resource center, career and transfer center and on-site services for admissions, financial aid and disability services.

The new facility also houses an Assessment Center that provides a broad variety of career, licensing and professional testing services to approximately 10,000 people a year.

The heart of the CAM is the Integrated Manufacturing Center, a simulated factory floor. Hydraulic, electrical and robotic workstations allow students to learn and apply skills needed to operate today's advanced manufacturing facilities. A mechatronics training station enables students to learn how mechanics, electronics and computing are applied in a manufacturing setting to generate simpler, more economical and reliable systems.

Just down the hall is an advanced welding lab that offers training in the most innovative, cost-effective, quality welding and cutting solutions. Through a partnership with Lincoln Electric, students have access to a virtual welder that uses virtual reality to provide realistic, hands-on training experience.

"The Center for Advanced Manufacturing is part of the toolbox that will help us ensure that advanced manufacturing remains a viable, strong and growing segment in the Northern Kentucky region," said Gateway President/CEO Ed Hughes. "We feel privileged to be part of the community effort that made this resource a reality."