ARM Institute Members are varied in their focus areas, sizes, and history, but one common thread unites each organization: a drive to build the future of US manufacturing. Each of member organization leverages their strengths and areas of expertise to secure a brighter future for the US workforce, a stronger Organic Industrial Base (OIB), and a more resilient manufacturing economy.
In this month’s five questions piece, we chatted with Paul Boulware, Technical Fellow at ARCTOS Technology Solutions, a Steel Level ARM Member. Beyond the standard call of membership, Paul volunteers his time and expertise as a member of our Education & Workforce Advisory Committee (EWAC) where he helps to inform our education/workforce priorities to build a future-ready US manufacturing workforce.
In this interview, get to know Paul’s background, how ARM Members can collaborate with ARCTOS Technology Solutions, how Paul and other experts contributed to the creation of both the ARM Institute’s robotics competency framework for manufacturing and our forthcoming artificial intelligence (AI) competency framework for manufacturing, and more.
1. We always like to start by exploring our expert’s background! Can you tell us about your professional background and your role at ARCTOS Technology Solutions?
I started my career with 15 years at the Edison Welding Institute (EWI) where I was fortunate to work with and learn from world-class engineers. There I supported and led numerous research and technology development programs which spanned a wide spectrum of advanced manufacturing technologies including weld sensory and controls, additive manufacturing, non-destructive evaluation, laser processing, and material testing.
The enjoyment I found being part of technology and product developments at EWI pushed me to take a role at Path Robotics, a startup looking to build an autonomous welding robot. During my four years at Path, I wore many hats including weld engineering lead, applications engineering lead, and eventual product lead as we worked to fuse metrology, machine vision, artificial intelligence, and real-time kinematics into a groundbreaking advancement in weld automation. Seeing firsthand how disparate digital technologies could be integrated to empower robots to perform complex welds otherwise reserved for to the best-of-the-best welders, was enlightening. It also highlighted for me a future shift in terms of what skills will be valued in a near-future state of manufacturing.
This led me to ARCTOS Technology Solutions which at the time was initiating a team to focus on advanced manufacturing training and technology transition. As a Technical Fellow within this group, I work as a subject matter expert (SME) to identify key training gaps within our education system, develop roadmaps to drive connectivity between technology providers, education partners and industry, and work with certifying bodies to develop industry recognized credentials that can be integrated into curriculum. I also work with manufacturing technology startups to identify opportunities to solve new build and sustainment challenges with the defense community, ultimately helping to transition these technologies to deployment and scale. All this work is to support the modernization and readiness of the defense industrial base and the manufacturing community as whole within the U.S.
2. ARTCOS has a wide range of services and capabilities. What should ARM Members know about the ways they can collaborate with ARCTOS?
ARCTOS is a technology solutions provider with more than 60 years of applied research and engineering experience in support of the defense community. We have deep technical knowledge in aerospace structures, materials, sensors, and electronics, propulsion and flight, and flight risk and safety. Additionally, we have groups which support the industrial base through Industrial Innovation Technologies (IIT) and Industrial Training and Technology Transfer (IT3), both of which interface with the ARM Institute.
Our IIT team provides technical expertise, laboratory facilities, and specialized equipment to develop, demonstrate, and commercialize manufacturing, maintenance, and repair technologies for aerospace and defense applications. On ARM Institute programs we are specifically looking to deploy our expertise in metrology, spatial registration, and system digitization to support program objectives.
Our IT3 team provides specialized services to facilitate the transition of advanced manufacturing technologies to support the modernization and readiness of the defense industrial base. This translates into active participation with the Education & Workforce Development pillar of the ARM Institute to help the team achieve its initiatives (e.g., I sit on the Education & Workforce Advisory Committee (EWAC)). Additionally, these technology transition services are valuable on technology programs at the ARM Institute, which are driving progression from mid-TRLs (e.g.,5-6) to high-TRLs (e.g.,7-9). Often in scale-up and launch, a technology is stymied by not having a workforce trained with the correct skillset to put the prototype technology to use. We work with the technology providers and the early adopters to ensure that a knowledge transfer takes place providing champions on the floor and a tighter product feedback loop during this critical transition period.
3. You’ve been a strong advocate for the ARM Institute and some of this work has centered on bringing the ARM Institute’s Robotics Competency Framework to wider use by training programs and industry, particularly organizations in Ohio. Can you tell us more about how you accomplished this and why you feel that the ARM Institute’s Robotics Competency Framework is so important?
In 2020, the ARM Institute put together a team of subject matter experts to help develop the first iteration of the Robotics Competency Framework. The output was a critical set of information that educators could utilize to update their curriculum, ensuring that they were training towards competencies desired by industry. ARCTOS found that it was useful to embed an integrator role in between the MII, the education and training community, statewide higher education and industry to help drive alignment. In partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), ARCTOS led a program to align and further validate the ARM Institute’s framework to education pathways in Ohio. We validated and embedded industry credentials into the pilot program in Northeast Ohio and then replicated the program via train-the-trainer across the state. Over just four years, the program is now being trained by 70+ instructors and has trained over 5,000+ trainees and counting. This is a model that is being taken to a national level for robotics, but it also an example of other Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) to follow, as the first integral step was the ARM Institute taking ownership of defining Industry 4.0 competencies for its specific technology domain.
[ARM Institute note: the ARM Institute is currently working with several of our fellow DoD Manufacturing Innovations Institutes to develop competency frameworks for each institute’s area of focus. Stay tuned for more information about this effort!].
4. In addition to the Robotics Competency framework, the ARM Institute has created an AI Competency Framework that will soon be integrated on RoboticsCareer.org through training and job postings. You were a significant contributor to our AI Competency Framework. Can you take us through your experience working with us on this effort and some key takeaways you had from this work?
I was privileged to be part of the team that put together the AI Competency Framework and thoroughly enjoyed the workshops that were facilitated by ARM Institute experts in Education and Workforce Development. Subject matter experts from robotics companies, research institutes, education, and the Department of Defense were included to put pen-to-paper and validate the framework. Two key takeaways for me were (a) the urgency in which these competencies are needed in industry and (b) the velocity at which AI-based and data-based competencies are supplanting more traditional knowledge and skills for manufacturing technicians and engineers. With the drive to re-shore manufacturing tasks via the application of advanced manufacturing technologies, the time to retool current training programs is now. At ARCTOS we look to be a part of that retool and similarly to the work we did in robotics, hope to partner with ARM Institute Members in this pursuit.
5. We were honored to welcome ARCTOS to our 9th Annual Member Meeting with the ARCTOS team presenting a five-minute pitch. Can you tell us a bit about the value you found in attending the meeting and any key takeaways you had from this year’s event?
The five-minute pitches are always at the top of my watch list for the Annual Member Meeting. ARM Members join because we value collaboration, we see opportunities to learn through teaming and knowledge-share, and we want to play a role in advancing the robotics needle in the U.S. These pitches are purposefully succinct. It’s not canned marketing material. It’s a targeted message on why we are novel and what type of developments we are interested in. I always learn something new from these pitches. This year was no different.
6. Bonus Question: Is there anything else that you’d like to add?
As the U.S. trends towards re-industrialization, advanced robotics technologies are critical to unlocking productivity potential. The ARM Institute is the hub for both accelerating the adoption of robotics and bringing together the best-and-brightest to collaborate on the next round of robotics innovations. ARCTOS looks forward to being a contributing member of this critical community and continuing to support industry, education, and technology partners as we define new jobs and build training to support them.
More Insights from Paul on AI for Manufacturing
Looking for more insights from Paul and other experts on AI for manufacturing? Check out our on-demand, three-part AI for Manufacturing Webinar series! Paul participated in our webinar that was centered on the AI skills needed for manufacturing careers.
Access our On-demand webinar series
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The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Agreement Number W911NF-17-3-0004 and is part of the Manufacturing USA® network. The ARM Institute leverages a unique and robust consortium of 450+ members and partners across industry, academia, and government to make robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence more accessible to U.S. manufacturers large and small, train and empower the manufacturing workforce, strengthen our economy and global competitiveness, and elevate national security and resilience. Based in Pittsburgh, PA since 2017, the ARM Institute is leading the way to a future where people & robots work together to respond to our nation’s greatest challenges and to produce the world’s most desired products. For more information, visit www.arminstitute.org and follow the ARM Institute on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).