A3 NEXTGEN THEATER AGENDA

Today’s advanced manufacturing ecosystems rely on interconnected systems, data analytics, automation, AI, cyber-physical tooling, and real time decision-making. Yet schools often struggle to scale meaningful experiences that both reflect this reality and prepare students for careers in these fields.

In this talk, we propose a bridge building model that connects STEM education to career readiness through integrated curriculum design, project based learning, and work based learning experiences that scale — without requiring untenable investments in proprietary technology or heavy district budgets. Using PLTW’s Advanced Manufacturing course as a case study, we explore how blending STEM disciplines across robotics, automation, AI, cybersecurity, and digital systems embedded in a career connected learning framework helps districts produce graduates who are work ready, critically skilled, and academically prepared.

Modern manufacturing does not have a student capability problem nearly as much as it has an awareness problem. Students cannot pursue careers they cannot see, understand, or connect to their own identity and future. While industry has invested heavily in STEM activities, career fairs, and technology demonstrations, many students, parents, and educators still struggle to understand how modern manufacturing careers connect to creativity, problem-solving, technology, and real-world opportunity.

This session explores how robotics, storytelling, educator partnerships, parent engagement, and cross-industry collaboration can help transform curiosity into career visibility. Drawing from real-world experiences across manufacturing and workforce development, attendees will gain practical ideas for creating more meaningful connections between students and the broad range of opportunities available in modern manufacturing and automation.

Robotics instruction supports a wide range of learning goals across education levels. For educators teaching STEM subjects—such as high school mathematics, physics, and engineering—robotics provides a uniquely integrated platform where mechanical, electrical, and software components come together to reinforce complex concepts through hands on application. In trade schools and higher education programs, robotics technology also plays a critical role in preparing students for rapidly growing career fields. These programs may emphasize advanced machine design, emerging technologies, or the operation, service, and maintenance of specialized robotic systems. However, many robotics programs rely heavily on physical hardware, which can be expensive, labor intensive to maintain, and demanding in terms of space and resources. By shifting more of the learning experience from hardware to software, educators can broaden access to robotics education, support a wider variety of learning objectives, and reduce both cost and logistical burden—without compromising the quality of instruction.

Explore the critical role of professional development in preparing educators to teach cutting-edge robotics and automation. Discover the tools, resources, and collaborative opportunities that help instructors stay ahead of industry trends and equip the next generation with the skills needed for tomorrow’s workforce.

As artificial intelligence rapidly gains attention in everyday life, it is important for educators to understand the distinctions between consumer AI, industrial AI, and the emerging field of Physical AI. This session will break down how tools like generative AI differ from AI used in manufacturing environments, where systems are designed to make decisions, adapt, and interact with physical processes. Attendees will explore real world use cases of AI in manufacturing today, including predictive maintenance, quality inspection, and intelligent robotics, while examining how these technologies are shaping the future of smart factories.

The session will also focus on practical ways educators can begin integrating Physical AI concepts into their robotics and CNC programs. Participants will learn how AI can enhance automation systems, improve machine performance, and create more adaptive manufacturing environments. We will discuss accessible approaches for introducing AI driven applications into the classroom, helping students develop the skills needed to succeed in an increasingly intelligent and connected manufacturing landscape.

The Moon is a harsh and unfamiliar place to operate, with difficult terrain, extreme conditions, and engineering constraints that push rover design in new ways. By engaging students with these challenges, we can inspire the next generation of ideas for exploring it.

Automation is advancing rapidly across industries, making it essential to develop a workforce that can keep pace. This session explores how early exposure, modern curriculum, and collaboration are helping build the next generation of robotics and automation professionals. Learn how the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) is developing new training programs, educational resources, and certification pathways designed to upskill today’s workforce while supporting educators and inspiring students to pursue careers in robotics, automation, and advanced manufacturing.

“AI Proof Your Future with Robotics Engineering” first explores the rapid growth of robotics across industry and service sectors and examines how artificial intelligence is reshaping future careers. As automation and AI continue to influence the workforce, students and professionals need to develop adaptable technical and soft skills that remain valuable for a successful career. This presentation highlights the types of skills that will continue to be important in a technology and AI driven world.

Special emphasis is placed on how robotics engineering provides a strong foundation for long-term career resilience in the manufacturing industry. Because robotics involves multiple areas of engineering, systems thinking and integration, and hands-on problem solving, it offers graduates opportunities to work with AI technologies rather than compete against them. The presentation concludes with a brief overview of how Lake Superior State University is preparing robotics engineering students through practical, multidisciplinary, and industry-focused education designed for the future workforce influenced by AI.

Learn from real-world examples of robotics and automation deployment at varied employers including the U.S. Naval Shipyards, and Tesla, as well as small manufacturers supported by Rethink Robotics. In each instance, workforce readiness is a critical element for successful deployment and yet many organizations struggle with critical skills shortages, and workforce acceptance. In this session, we will look at the workforce factors impacting each of these environments.

The session will also explore how the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute addresses these issues through its talent supply chain work and the free RoboticsCareer service. Through ARM Institute, employers gain clarity on competencies for needed roles, access to vetted training programs for effective upskilling and qualified talent for hiring. Intended for employers, the session will also provide an overview of the broader talent supply chain factors impacting their deployments.

A panel discussion featuring automation leaders sharing real-world career lessons, challenges and advice for the next generation.

Ten years ago, Matt Churchill would not have predicted his career would look the way it does today. Now, as Director of Sales Engineering at OSARO with over a decade of experience in solutions architecture, application engineering, and mechanical design, Matt has spent his career chasing one question: where can I create the most impact?

That pursuit led him from packaging design into robotics and AI, and eventually into a realization that no introvert wants to hear: to get technology into the hands of the people who need it, you have to go talk to them.

In this session, Matt will share what that career path actually looked like from the inside, including the pivots, the realizations, and the moments that clarified what impact really means when you're working in automation. He'll walk through a real customer engagement, showing how a cold walk through a million-square-foot facility turned into a data-driven business case and what it took to drive that proposal through a large organization. For students considering a future in robotics, automation, or engineering, this session offers something most job descriptions leave out: an honest, ground-level look at what it actually takes to create change. It's part technical, part social, and entirely about learning to see where your technology fits and then advocating for it. You can be the best engineer in the world, but if you can't communicate what you've built and why it matters, nothing moves.

What inspires youth to create a positive mindset for future STEM possibilities? How do you prepare current students for future opportunities that may not exist today? As educators, we are constantly seeking ways to inspire students to think outside the box and explore exciting new opportunities. Throughout my years in education, I have been rewarded by watching youth engage in STEM programs that have impacted the trajectory of their future. Many times these same youth have reached out to tell their story of the little things that provided them the big confidence to take a step in a direction they had never imagined. How can you take these student stories back to your classroom to inspire the youth you work with to invigorate the future of the STEM pipeline?

American industry is entering a period of acute labor pressure. With 425,000 skilled workers needed by 2026, 1.9 million manufacturing jobs projected to go unfilled by 2033, and 72% of employers predicting that half their workforce will require reskilling within two years, the automation transition is no longer a future planning problem, it is a present operational crisis. Robot orders rose 6.6% in 2025, reaching $2.25 billion, with collaborative robots now accounting for 20% of all units shipped. The technology is accelerating. The talent pipeline is not.

Attendees will learn how each stakeholder, K-12 and CTE programs, community colleges, workforce development boards, and community organizations, holds a defined and complementary role in closing the skills gap. The session examines real implementations. Case studies that illustrate how vendor partnerships, including free certified training systems and turnkey education packages, can dramatically reduce capital barriers for institutions of any size.

The engineering design process is not just a set of steps. It is a framework for developing students' thinking, problem-solving, and communication. This session focuses on implementing a truly student-centered engineering design process where learners take ownership of their ideas, document their thinking, and iterate through multiple design cycles.

Attendees will explore strategies to support multiple design cycles, encourage productive failure, and help students make informed decisions based on data and testing. Emphasis will be placed on making student thinking visible and on highlighting how strong documentation reflects decision-making, problem-solving, and continuous improvement.

A panel of automation experts from Mission Design & Automation will share what a day-in-the-life is like for various roles in the automation industry. Through this they will highlight some of the automation systems integrator's ever-present challenges and how to tackle them, what the next generation can expect when choosing a career in automation, how tools and technology advance and change, but the core fundamentals of teamwork remain the same and are necessary to project success, and how you don't always need to be an engineer to have a thriving career in the automation industry.

As industrial sectors pivot toward autonomous automation, educational institutions must equip students with the skills to lead this shift. This presentation introduces Motoman NEXT, Yaskawa’s premier Physical AI platform designed to bridge the gap between classroom theory and advanced manufacturing. Unlike traditional robotics, Motoman NEXT utilizes an Autonomous Control Unit to move beyond rigid programming, enabling students to master real-time perception and decision-making.

This session explores how by integrating this ecosystem, schools could offer a curriculum that spans high-level IT programming and industrial OT, making robotics accessible to both computer science and engineering disciplines.

Learn how modern education is evolving through the adoption of robotic solutions, with a focus on hands-on advanced automation, artificial intelligence, and vision systems being implemented in the classroom.

As manufacturers of all sizes face ongoing workforce shortages, many are accelerating their adoption of automation, especially in CNC machining. From job shops to large-scale operations, robotic machine tending is becoming essential for improving productivity, quality, and capacity while addressing labor challenges. This growing shift creates a critical need for students to develop both CNC and robotics skillsets. Educators are uniquely positioned to bridge this gap by aligning their programs with real-world automation practices.

This session will explore practical, classroom-ready strategies to link robotics and CNC education through project-based learning. Attendees will discover how to integrate machine tending concepts into robotics and automation programs or introduce robotics into precision machining courses. We’ll cover both traditional industrial robots and collaborative applications, along with pre-engineered education solutions designed for teaching machine tending automation. The session will also highlight FANUC’s Robot ON-SITE software, a streamlined, protocol-free solution that enables robots to interface directly with CNC controls using a single Ethernet connection. Participants will learn how this technology along with CNC training simulators can empower instructors to teach real-world robot integration without requiring costly machine investments.

As a former college lab instructor, I often struggled with the constraints of a physical lab. Lost or damaged equipment, tight budgets, and risk of accidents made it difficult to provide students with consistent, hands-on learning experiences. Shifting some of our most resource intensive activities into computer based simulations created a level of flexibility, sustainability, and safety that simply wasn’t possible in our traditional lab environment. The same principle applies to robotics. Many academic programs recognize the value of integrating robotics into their curriculum, yet are held back by the high cost of hardware, the need for dedicated space, and the inherent safety challenges. Transitioning from a hardware centric model to a software centric robotics platform helps overcome these barriers. It offers a scalable, cost effective, and safe foundation that supports broader access to robotics education and enables long term growth.

Manufacturing is evolving fast—but the way we recruit the next workforce hasn’t quite kept up. If the industry is going to solve its workforce gap, it can’t keep looking for the same type of candidate in the same places.

This session takes a fresh look at how bringing more diversity into manufacturing isn’t just about inclusion—it’s about building a stronger, more innovative workforce. We’ll break down why groups are often overlooked, what they actually bring to the table, and how shifting perceptions can open the door to entirely new talent pipelines.

Designed for students, educators, and industry professionals alike, this conversation will connect the dots between opportunity, access, and real career pathways. Attendees will walk away with a clearer understanding of how expanding who we invite into manufacturing ultimately benefits everyone—from classrooms to companies to communities.

This session will focus on what A3 is doing for current educational partners and to support future partnerships through collaboration on professional development, grants, awards, contests, marketing and curriculum development. Are you interested in working with A3 to support your school's engineering classes, robotics/STEM clubs or robotics and automation programs this would be a great session to attend.

Strong talent pipelines do not happen by chance. They are built through intentional, aligned work-based learning (WBL) experiences that connect education and industry and move students from career awareness to workforce participation.

This session brings together two critical ideas: designing high-quality WBL experiences and aligning those experiences to broader talent pipeline development. Participants will explore a structured approach to WBL that guides students through progressive phases - exposure, exploration, engagement and experience - while also examining how each phase contributes to building a sustainable workforce pipeline.

Through real examples and practical application, attendees will learn how experiences like guest speakers, industry tours, job shadows, mentorship and internships serve different roles in student development and employer engagement. The session will also address common challenges such as fragmented programming, limited employer capacity and uneven access to opportunities, and offer strategies to create more intentional, scalable systems.

Participants will engage in reflection and planning activities to evaluate their current approach and identify opportunities to better align WBL experiences with regional workforce needs. The session highlights how classroom instruction, industry partnerships and student organizations like SkillsUSA can work together to create meaningful, connected pathways that support both student success and employer talent needs.

Attendees will leave with a clearer framework, practical tools and actionable strategies to strengthen their work-based learning efforts and contribute to more effective, sustainable talent pipelines

Manufacturing has always run on relationships - on the shop floor, at trade shows, in breakrooms. But something shifted when those connections moved online. What started as a group chat became a movement.

In this session, Nush Ahmed and Brooke Laing explore what it actually looks like to build community inside one of the most traditionally siloed industries in the world (along with other industries). Nush will share how Sisterhood of Trades grew from a handful of tradeswomen in a group chat to a global network of 1,200+ members - and what connection does for retention, visibility, and culture in manufacturing and the skilled trades. Brooke, a steamfitting and welding apprentice, brings the union view - what it feels like to be a woman on the jobsite, and why having a community around you changes everything about whether you stay.

Together, they make the case that the future of manufacturing talent isn't just a pipeline problem - it's a belonging problem. And the shops, organizations, and leaders who figure that out first are already winning.

Jacob will be breaking down each of his industry career paths into their own personas and giving the audience action items that can continue to guide toward each laid out path in automation.

One path from when he was a 5 axis CNC machinist and how growth in that career prepped him for entering automation.

Second path being entering the automation world as a application engineer for custom automation integration. This eventually led to a marketing and sales pathway still all-around automation

Third path being his current role at igus and how he now focuses on marketing and creating automation educational content for businesses and schools all around the country.

After the speech attendees will be able to go back to their own business and structure these types of roles into their own company career pathways or implement suggested strategies for their own careers.

What hiring managers actually evaluate when reviewing candidates — including skills gaps, resumes, portfolios, and early-career expectations.

Work-based learning is the fastest bridge between education and automation careers, but only when it’s designed for quality and equity. ACTE will share a practical blueprint to launch, evaluate, and scale WBL aligned to industry standards, with strategies that help employers host meaningful experiences and help educators turn placements into real skill growth.