The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is helping train the next generation of innovators in casting and forging, industries that play a critical role in US 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 Art and Tickle College of Engineering. Twelve participants are getting a hands-on introduction to metallurgy, a field crucial to a broad range of industries including defense manufacturing, through the Metallurgical Engineering Trades Apprenticeships and Learning initiative launched by IACMI and the US Department of Defense’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program in 2023.
According to the Defense Logistics Agency, 92 percent of specialized end items used in defense platforms—including ships, submarines, aircraft and ground combat vehicles—rely on cast and forged parts. The US 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.
“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 helps lead the bootcamp.