Year 2022

In December 2022, ACE Bootcamp, under the leadership of of Dr. Aixi Zhou, PhD, PE, marked a historic milestone with its inaugural session, setting the stage for a groundbreaking journey in the world of machining and advanced manufacturing. With a select group of four exceptional participants from NCAT's undergraduate program and two motivated PhD students, this bootcamp was a melting pot of ambition and innovation.

These participants, driven by the profound mission of ACE to reinvigorate the machining workforce in the United States, embarked on a transformative learning experience. ACE Bootcamp offered them not just technical skills but a vision for the future, where precision meets creativity.

“Industry demand for machine tool operators, engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs far outpaces our manufacturing workforce supply in the U.S.,” said Aixi Zhou, Ph.D., chair and professor in the Department of Applied Engineering Technology. Zhou will serve as director of the new hub. “At North Carolina A&T, we are leveraging this opportunity with America’s Cutting Edge to better serve our students and community. We stand ready to address the overall manufacturing skills gap in this country and directly bolster our nation’s machine tool workforce to help DoD meet its supply chain needs. This partnership with DoD is a great opportunity for many high school and college students in the region to receive hands-on education and strengthen North America’s national competitiveness in manufacturing.” 

N.C. A&T professors Dr. Aixi Zhou, Phill Davis, James Kribs, Xiaochuan “Frank” Lu, and Alexander Martin have traveled from Greensboro, NC, to Knoxville, Tenn., to spend five days in the ACE in-person training course for Computer Numerical Control (CNC) skills and have gained the knowledge necessary to expand the ACE curriculum at their university. N.C. A&T has become the first ACE regional machine tools workforce training and development center beyond the initial testbed in East Tennessee and is the largest HBCU, Historically Black College and University, in the country.

America’s Cutting Edge (ACE) is a national initiative for machine tool technology development and advancement. It is supported by the Department of Defense Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program from the Office of Industrial Policy. The machine tool research and development for ACE is based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), whose Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) is a global leader in developing and validating systems and processes that leverage digital frameworks for manufacturing innovation. The ACE program’s intent is to train the next-generation machine tool workforce, including future manufacturing engineers, machine tool designers, entrepreneurs, machinists, and others.