The Barnes Global Advisors announced as finalist for 2024 Education and Workforce Development Award
January 19, 2024
The Barnes Global Advisors (TBGA), headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, have been announced at the Military AM Summit as a finalist for the 2024 Education and Workforce Development Award, presented in partnership with America Makes. This recognition was said to be a testament to TBGA’s commitment to advancing Additive Manufacturing technologies and fostering a skilled workforce in the United States.
TBGA has developed a comprehensive AM training curriculum to support the adoption of AM technologies in various sectors. These include:
- Training over 700 Department of Defense (DoD) personnel and more than 300 industrial participants through its curriculum
- Awarding five Purdue University AM Certification Scholarships to armed forces personnel in 2023 (an overall value of $9,500)
- Active participation in various committees and working groups, including the America Makes Materials working group, the SAE AMS committee, and the SME Additive Manufacturing Technical Community Leadership Committee
- Development and leadership of the AM for Business Workshop in collaboration with SME at RAPID
- Guest lectures at multiple universities, such as Purdue, Carnegie Mellon, Penn State, & MS&T to inform on economics, industrial applications and design considerations for AM
In 2019, TBGA collaborated with Purdue University to pioneer one of the first fully comprehensive Additive Manufacturing training certification programmes. This programme plays a pivotal role in equipping a skilled workforce with the necessary knowledge and hands-on experience.
Recognising the success and commitment to executing effective training, in 2023 TBGA was awarded the contract to develop the Resilient Manufacturing Ecosystem (RME) at Neighbourhood 91, supported by funding from the Department of Defense and its Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) programme. The RME programme focused on addressing skills gaps in Additive Manufacturing to further accelerate its adoption.
Captain Bradley Baker from the US Naval Academy was the recipient of this award. TBGA President/Founder John Barnes responded, “Congratulations to Captain Baker on receiving this award. It is an honour for us to even be in the same category as the Naval Academy. We’re proud that our training efforts were acknowledged as we consider workforce development to be a pillar of our organisation.”
