Skills that Scale: Apprenticeships, Internships, and Ecosystem Solutions for Advanced Manufacturing

On October 8, 2025, the National Institute for Industry and Career Advancement™ (NIICA) hosted a virtual accelerator: “Skills that Scale: Apprenticeships, Internships, and Ecosystem Solutions for Advanced Manufacturing & Tech.”

This expert-led session explored how Registered Apprenticeships (RAs), internships, and other earn-and-learn strategies can serve as scalable, sustainable talent solutions for advanced manufacturing and technology sectors. The discussion offered insights for employers, workforce boards, and education partners on building a workforce that meets the growing demand for skilled, adaptable professionals.

Topics covered include:

The Workforce Challenge: Why U.S. leadership in advanced manufacturing and tech depends on strengthening the skilled talent pipeline

Apprenticeship and Internship Potential: How earn-and-learn models create structured, transferable pathways from interest to career

Technology Accelerators: The role of digital twins and other tools in improving training consistency and safety

Scaling Solutions: How skill-based hiring and ecosystem-level collaboration can expand access and opportunity

Featured speakers:
Moderator: Robert Weinman, Director of Workforce Innovation, NIICA
Clay Nagel, Sr. Director, National Center for Skill-based Learning, NIICA
Dr. Jared Ashcroft, Principal Investigator, Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC); Chemistry Professor, Pasadena City College
Isai Pochtar, Senior Account Executive, Training All People (TAP)

This session highlights how collaboration across industry, education, and workforce systems is helping to close the skills gap and strengthen the foundation for U.S. innovation and competitiveness.

This event is part of NIICA’s Workforce Education, Career & Apprenticeship Network® (WE-CAN®) and supported by NIICA’s Center for Skill-Based Learning™.

This project has been funded, either wholly or in part, with Federal funds from the Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration under Contract Number 1605C2-22-C-006. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.