Huntsville, AL Workforce training program created to address today’s digital engineering gap areas in aerospace and defense development.

IDEA, a non-profit national collaborative center supporting Digital Engineering Education and Workforce Development, is taking the next steps in fulfilling its challenge of accelerating the supply of a competent engineering technical workforce. This workforce will have the needed skills to meet the demand for employees capable of building, manipulating and exploiting Model-based System Engineering (MBSE) in the needed Systems Modeling Language (SysML) format.

IDEA in partnership with Calhoun Community College, Auburn University and Victory Solutions offers education and training solutions in Digital Engineering featuring:

• Associates Degree in Systems Engineering Technology (SET)

• Professional and Certificate Programs

• Professional Training Programs

• University Level Electives and Certificates

• Internships and Apprenticeships

These solutions are made possible through funding under the Department of Defense Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program for the continuation of the SET program development and application project including the pathfinder degree at Calhoun Community College. SET creates a new skillset of capable engineering technicians that will enable and accelerate the incorporation of digital engineering into the workplace. The SET curriculum has been developed to align with employers’ needs for workers skilled in emerging systems engineering technologies without requiring a four-year degree.

“We are confident that as the program matures throughout Alabama and our outreach expands to other states, we will see big gains toward filling the talent pipeline with a workforce that possesses more in-demand, hands-on experience with system modeling expertise,” said IDEA Executive Director and SET program Manager, Mr. Chris Crumbly.

Moving forward, the SET program continues to explore opportunities to expand its systems engineering technician curriculum to other schools across Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Project leaders are in conversations with stakeholders in Texas, Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia for potential expansion. IDEA is also working towards a Department of Labor registered apprenticeship program for SET. These next steps forward require support from industry and community to sponsor IDEA education nodes near MBE/MBSE centers of excellence, to sponsor interns and apprenticeships and to employ SET graduates.

For more information on IDEA and SET curriculum please contact Chris Crumbly, IDEA Executive Director and SET Program Manager at www.idea-set.org or by email at chris.crumbly@idea-set.org.