University of Tennessee Art and Engineering partner to address pressing workforce shortage in national defense manufacturing

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is helping train the next generation of innovators in casting and forging. Casting and forging industries play a critical role in U.S. manufacturing, especially in the defense sector.

UT is hosting its second METAL casting bootcamp this week, a unique collaboration between IACMI — The Composites Institute and UT’s School of Artand Tickle College of Engineering. Twelve participants — some college undergraduate students and some mid-career professionals — are getting a hands-on introduction to metallurgy, a field crucial to a broad range of industries including defense manufacturing, as they gain valuable technical skills in metal properties, heat treatment processes and advanced manufacturing techniques.

“The METAL bootcamp reflects UT’s steadfast commitment to combining the strengths of our nationally renowned research and unique workforce training programs to meet regional and national needs,” said Deb Crawford, vice chancellor for research, innovation and economic development.

According to the Defense Logistics Agency, 92% of specialized end items used in defense platforms — including ships, submarines, aircraft and ground combat vehicles — rely on cast and forged parts. The U.S. is projected to have 2.1 million unfilled manufacturing jobs by 2030, with a deficit of 383,000 skilled workers needed to support casting and forging firms.

IACMI — The Composites Institute, which is headquartered in Knoxville, has been working to address those workforce needs for more than a year. The Metallurgical Engineering Trades Apprenticeships and Learning initiative — known by its acronym, METAL — was announced in December 2023 by IACMI and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program in response to the supply chain for cast and forged components for the defense industrial base having shrunk by 80%.

IACMI’s Chief Technology Officer Uday Vaidya, the UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair for Advanced Composites Manufacturing, approached faculty in the university’s School of Art and Department of Materials Science and Engineering with the idea of partnering to lead the METAL bootcamps on campus, and their first was held in December 2024.

“The workforce in these industries is aging rapidly and is in need of an injection of young talent to help offset those who will age into retirement in the next several years,” said Dustin Gilmer, an assistant professor in materials sciences who leads the bootcamp for the Tickle College of Engineering.

METAL participants start by completing 8.5 hours of video instruction in a self-paced online course, after which they receive a METAL Level 1 digital credential. They can go on, if they choose, to hands-on opportunities such as this week’s bootcamp. In just five days, METAL bootcamp participants

• learn about computer-aided design and drafting software, casting and heat treatment
• make molds of three projects using different methods
• cast their projects in aluminum and bronze
• perform various tests on metals and compare the mechanical properties of metals such as steel and iron
• finish their projects with machining and sand blasting to address any imperfections

One of the aims of METAL is to illuminate diverse career pathways, which echoes what Professor of Art Jason Brown brings to his sculpture classes at UT.

“Workforce development is increasingly important,” said Brown, who leads days two and three of the METAL bootcamp in UT’s foundry in the Art and Architecture Building. “In sculpture, we have a real emphasis on post-graduation employment opportunities. So much of what we do is hands-on training — not just concept or theory — because it’s important for students to have that versatility. The students who are getting jobs (after graduation) are in the trades — welding, opening metal fabrication shops — and hopefully still making art on the side.”

UT plans to host three METAL bootcamps a year. Participants must be 18 years old but can be from any career field or background. All METAL training is free.

“The bootcamps are an important part of the METAL program for lots of reasons, one of the most important being that it is our way of bridging the program into the actual workforce and exposing both traditional and nontraditional students to the casting and forging ecosystem,” Gilmer said. “It is a more in-depth, hands-on way for us to reach a wide audience and hopefully start them on the path of working in or around the casting and forging industry.”