Lisa Masciantonio, ARM Institute Chief Workforce Officer, has earned the prestigious honor of being one of the Pittsburgh Business Time’s 2022 Women of Influence. Each year, a panel of judges select the Women of Influence — from a pool of hundreds of nominations — who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement while also becoming leaders in their communities. Lisa one of just 27 individuals being recognized.
As a woman in robotics, Lisa works in a male-dominated industry to accomplish a critical mission: empower and train U.S. manufacturing workers to work with robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are foundational pieces of the ARM Institute’s national education and workforce strategy. Lisa works to lower the barriers of entry for careers in robotics for women and other under-served populations including economically disadvantaged communities, underrepresented ethnic groups, transitioning military members, and many others. She accomplishes this work by catalyzing high-impact, national workforce projects and creating resources that demystify robotics career opportunities in manufacturing. Since the Institute’s inception, Lisa has catalyzed more than 40 workforce-focused projects, built the nation’s only resource that connects education seekers to training aligned with robotics career pathways, and launched a new evaluation program that recognizes the top training programs for robotics careers in manufacturing.
The ARM Institute is funded by the Department of Defense as a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) part of the Manufacturing USA network. Through her role, Lisa is entrusted to lead the national strategy to prepare the U.S manufacturing workforce to work with robotics, AI, and other advanced technologies.
On a regional-level, Lisa’s workforce team also leads the ARM Institute’s engagement with the Hazelwood Community. The ARM Institute’s headquarters is located in Mill 19 at Hazelwood Green. Previously, the ARM Institute has hosted robotics workshops for the Hazelwood community working with the Girls of Steel, the Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania, the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy, the Center of Life, and others.
Lisa is widely recognized as a top leader in the robotics industry. She has previously been recognized internationally by SME as one of 20 “Exceptional Women in Robotics and Automation”.
Lisa has more than 25 years of experience as a performance-driven leader with notable success in cultivating and executing business strategies and formulating long-term strategic client relationships. She has proven success in developing business solutions, commercialization of products, technology transfer, and technological initiatives that have supported organizational growth, improved staff productivity, and increased value to many communities of practice. Critical to her success is the ability to increase awareness and drive thought leadership position by designing and executing innovative programs as well as developing and launching new, value-add offerings for ongoing competitiveness. Lisa received a Bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University and two Master’s degrees from Carnegie Mellon University.
Contributions to the ARM Institute
Lisa has been invaluable to the ARM Institute, joining the organization just shortly after its inception in 2017.
As the ARM Institute’s Chief Workforce Officer, Lisa Masciantonio drives the national strategy for preparing the U.S. manufacturing workforce to work with robotics and artificial intelligence in manufacturing environments. The U.S is facing an unprecedented workforce challenge in manufacturing. A recent report by The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte found that 4.6 million jobs will need to be filled in the U.S. manufacturing over the next decade, and 2.4 million jobs may be left open due to a lack of trained workers. As Industry 4.0 ushers in a new era of manufacturing that relies on robotics and AI, upskilling the existing manufacturing workforce and building a talent pipeline of future workers is critical.
In her role at the ARM Institute, Lisa convenes diverse experts across industry, government, and academia to catalyze workforce solutions. Through this work, Lisa has defined the competencies and skills needed for robotics careers in manufacturing and defined the three primary career pathways: robotics technician, robotics specialist, and robotics integrator. Additionally, Lisa created the only national resource that connects education seekers with education opportunities that align directly with robotics career pathways in manufacturing: RoboticsCareer.org. RoboticsCareer.org showcases training programs from across the nation and clearly show which skills are addressed for each career path. Programs included on RoboticsCareer.org range from micro-credentials all the through PhD programs.
In addition to creating RoboticsCareer.org, Lisa’s work has also resulted in a new national education Endorsement process. This process recognizes programs that meet the highest standards set by the robotics industry in the categories of Relevance to the Industry, Effective Curriculum, Efficiency of the Training, Impact of the Program, Program Sustainability and Transportability.
Since the ARM Institute’s inception in 2017, Lisa has catalyzed more than 40 unique education and workforce development projects that are led by ARM Institute Members from across the nation. These projects see unique collaboration between organizations that are often considered competitors outside of the ARM Institute’s ecosystem. Initiatives created through this process include robotics apprenticeship program targeting incumbent workers, pre-apprenticeship and credential programs for middle and high school students, earn-and-learn programs that lower the cost barrier for training, and more.
Prior to becoming the ARM Institute’s Chief Workforce Officer, Lisa worked as the Institute’s Membership Director and laid a critical foundation for the Institute’s 330+ member organization consortium. Lisa worked to define membership levels and benefits and recruit a diverse collection of organizations ranging from large R&D companies to start-ups, from community colleges to Ivy league universities.
About the ARM Institute
The ARM (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing) 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, robust, and diverse ecosystem of 330+ consortium 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 Twitter.