Eastern Florida State College (EFSC) is newest home to an advanced composites learning center designed to educate and train composites technicians to support Florida's Space Coast manufacturing region.

Led by the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI)-The Composites Institute®, the national workforce initiative is part of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Office of Naval Research's Manufacturing Engineering Education Program (MEEP). MEEP programs prepare current and next-generation manufacturing workers to produce military systems and components that assure defense technological leadership.

"Eastern Florida State College is strategically located in the heart of Florida's Space Coast region and has a high concentration of defense, space, aerospace, and marine industries who support DOD projects vital to our economy and national security," said Joannie Harmon, workforce director for IACMI. 

"Advanced composites materials are critical to the defense industry. The Advanced Composites Career Pathway (ACCP) program sponsored through DOD focuses on training the current and future workforce with the manufacturing skills necessary to sustaining the defense innovation base."

IACMI and collaborators are establishing a national Advanced Composites Career Pathways (ACCP) learning network to develop a skilled advanced composites manufacturing workforce. It is based on the best-in-class program at Davis Technology College in Utah and adapted to the needs of regional ecosystems. Similar learning centers are underway in Alabama at Enterprise State Community Collegein Enterprise and in New York at the Composites Prototyping Center in Long Island.

Representatives from EFSC and the Space Coast Consortium Apprenticeship Program (SCCAP) visited Davis Tech in Kaysville, Utah, participating in a week-long train-the-trainer course. Davis Tech is recognized nationally for its composites education program and for serving the DOD manufacturing supply chain. The college has created a model curriculum aligned to industry needs and staffed with highly trained instructors. IACMI has teamed with them to scale out a regional customizable training program based on that model across the U.S. to fill labor gaps with highly skilled technicians in the composites industry.

The new EFSC advanced composites technician learning center will greatly enhance the college's existing composites program, serve local industry hiring requirements, and provide alignment with DOD innovations in materials, processes, and technologies in advanced composites manufacturing.

"The new Advanced Composites Learning Center further strengthens EFSC's leading role in training a new generation of highly skilled workers for the Department of Defense, NASA and high-tech companies," said EFSC President Dr. Jim Richey. "EFSC has a long history and dedication to the east Florida region's composite manufacturing industry through its two-year Aerospace and Engineering Technology degree programs."

These composites concentrations were designed and developed in part utilizing SpaceTEC and CertTEC fiber composite standards and certifications. Through these programs, EFSC has successfully placed its students into the local workforce either directly, or through work-based learning programs such as internships and apprenticeships.

EFSC is the local education partner for the SCCAP, an industry-driven apprenticeship program supported under the auspices of SpaceTEC Partners Inc. The SCCAP is an autonomous committee led by key Space Coast advanced manufacturing companies.

SCCAP is a State of Florida-registered apprenticeship program and currently offers three apprenticeship occupations: Mechatronics Technician, Advanced Machinist and Fiber Composites Technician.