The Metallurgical Engineering Trades Apprenticeship & Learning (METAL) program announced a new partnership with Michigan Technological University (MTU) to enhance and scale up industry-driven training opportunities for current and prospective metalworking and manufacturing professionals. Led by IACMI (The Composites Institute) with funding from the Department of Defense’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program, METAL strengthens and diversifies the US metal manufacturing workforce, focusing on casting, forging and plate rolling.

This partnership will provide hands-on and online workforce training designed to strengthen the casting, forging, and machining industries.

As METAL’s newest hub operator, MTU will deliver METAL’s nationally recognized curriculum, facilitate instructor certification, and launch boot camps and academic pathways tailored to current and future metalworking professionals. MTU will also integrate METAL training into its Summer Youth Programs to offer an immersive introduction to metalworking, metallurgy, and materials science to high school students from across the Upper Midwest.

The MTU hub will implement a stacked curriculum model, which combines interactive online learning with immersive in-person casting and forging boot camps at MTU’s state-of-the-art labs. Future educational modules will incorporate training on automation in casting and forging, and will open pathways to employment in critical industry roles.

MTU joins a growing consortium of METAL hubs, including University of Alabama in Birmingham, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Together, these institutions are driving a nationwide resurgence in metallurgical and manufacturing excellence by expanding access to high-quality, industry-relevant training.