January 2020 – Dr. Stephen Catt (ARM Deputy Director, Education & Workforce Development) spoke with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about how advancements in technology, like robotics and AI, will ultimately benefit the manufacturing workforce. Prior to entering a career in academia, Dr. Catt spent eight years working on a factory floor. The physical work required has caused health issues for Dr. Catt and many of his former colleagues. Advancements in robotics will help to ease the burden of these physical tasks for workers.
Retraining the existing workforce is equally as important to the future of manufacturing. “Robots are taking dull, dirty and dangerous jobs away from our workers and usually those jobs are not jobs that anybody is going to miss,” Mr. Catt said. “But we need to transfer that passion and the willingness to work into these new technologies so that existing workers can adapt readily.”
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Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) is the nation’s leading collaborative in robotics and workforce innovation. Structured as a public-private partnership, we accelerate transformative robotic technologies and education to increase U.S. global manufacturing competitiveness. Founded in January 2017 in Pittsburgh, PA by Carnegie Mellon University through an independent non-profit, and funded by the Department of Defense, ARM is part of the Manufacturing USA® network. Learn more at www.arminstitute.org.