Tennessee Tech utilizing a $434,204 grant to expand access to practical training in metal casting and forging through a series of specialized boot camps designed to address workforce shortages in the manufacturing industry.
Assistant Professor Vivekanand Naikwadi said the funding supports instruction for students, educators, and manufacturing professionals using the university’s foundry to demonstrate how engineering decisions affect real parts. Naikwadi said the university is one of only 21 schools in the country associated with the Foundry Education Foundation.
“Tennessee Tech has received almost $434,204 from IACME Metal Grant,” Naikwadi said. “The main purpose of this grant is to teach student and the practitioner or who wants to change their jobs in metal casting industries, so that’s the whole point of this grant.”
Naikwadi said participants in the program use SolidWorks software to design patterns with specific draft angles before creating molds and melting materials such as aluminum 356 and silicon bronze. The training includes pouring the material and inspecting the finished casting for defects, surface conditions, and dimensional accuracy.
“By examining the finished part, the participants or student can learn the different material behavior and different processing condition like dimensional accuracy, surface condition, or casting defects that might occur in the casting,” Naikwadi said.
Naikwadi said previous boot camps have already trained 61 participants, with roughly 70 percent of those individuals coming from industrial backgrounds. The program has established partnerships with various Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology, including Hartsville and Upper Cumberland.
“The participants from these different organization come here to increase their skill in metal casting and they will get the job in actual hands-on material characterization or metal casting or forging industries,” Naikwadi said.
Naikwadi said local manufacturers report numerous vacancies and have requested that new employees possess a basic understanding of metal casting and forging to reduce the need for on-the-job training. The university plans to host 12 boot camps over the next two years to reach approximately 180 participants while also engaging 500 students through K-12 and community college outreach.
“The output of this funding is to get the job in the core manufacturing casting and forging industry,” Naikwadi said. “That’s the whole output of this grant.”
Naikwadi said the initiative includes two hiring opportunities where local industry representatives will visit the university to recruit participants for mechanical and material industry positions.
