January will mark the full operational debut of ECAM – the new Center for Energy Conservation and Advanced Manufacturing. This $9 million, 34,000-square-foot applied technology center, at the Oak Creek Campus, answers the competitive challenges facing manufacturers in greater Milwaukee.

Along with teaching advanced skills to MATC students, ECAM was designed to train incumbent workers to efficiently work as individuals and in teams. It also provides technology training and best-practice counsel in the realms of sustainability and energy conservation.

A public-private venture, the project was made possible by donations of money, technology and labor. Partners range from Fortune 500 companies, to small, progressive manufacturing firms; to local trade unions.

A busy fall semester saw completion of systems installation and the phased opening of the various learning labs. Trade apprentices did much of the work, including interior painting, as part of their field training.

Avid learners began using the facility even as it came together. In the machine shop, advanced students in CNC programming began churning out practice parts on the new, five-axis machine tools. Other students began their training in computer-aided drafting and energy solutions analysis.

ECAM serves three broad customer groups:
• For employers and their incumbent workers, it provides customized workshops, seminars and training; for-credit courses and certificates; and production skills credentialing.
• For the public, it provides advanced degree and diploma opportunities and advanced courses and certificates for continuing learners.
• For apprentice training programs, it provides advanced college courses serving a range of unionized trades.

What’s it all about? “In the broadest sense, it’s about more efficient integration of human systems and technological systems with the goal of lower costs and improved productivity,” said John Stilp, vice president for the Oak Creek Campus and ECAM project leader. 

Creating a New Workforce

Perhaps the greatest economic challenge facing greater Milwaukee is the dwindling of its skilled labor force. “Meanwhile, labor-intensive jobs of the past are now robotic, flexible systems, or fully automated,” Stilp said.

Digital technology demands familiarity with electronic interfaces for gathering data, generating reports and controlling devices. ECAM will teach these advanced, increasingly interconnected competencies and then render them portable through worker credentialing.

“We are training people to become ‘knowledge workers,’” Stilp said. “Knowledge workers trained and credentialed here will become the core of a re-engineered, highly adaptable workforce. We also want to work directly with employers to transform incumbent employees into knowledge workers.”

Beyond their core technical training, Stilp emphasized, ECAM learners are taught “soft skills” including teamwork, communication, math computation and customer satisfaction – considered by many companies to be critical to competitiveness.

Energy Transformation

To waste energy drives up the end cost of consumer and commercial goods. The effects compound mercilessly in a context of rapidly rising energy prices. In response, more and more companies are adopting energy-efficient machines, practices and facilities. “We are here to help them make optimal choices,” Stilp said.

As a driver of this transition, ECAM is developing advanced educational programs for equipping and managing the new high-performance green buildings. New technicians are being trained for the installation, maintenance and operation of latest-generation, high-efficiency, digitally controlled heating and cooling systems. Students, employers and the public will also be educated about renewable energies.

Engineering an Image Makeover

“Simply to offer advanced training will accomplish nothing if recruitment fails,” Stilp noted. “Therefore another key mission of this project is to change the image of manufacturing. ECAM dispels false notions of an industry mainly characterized by dirty, low-skill environments.”

According to Stilp, dislocated workers will be targeted and, especially, young people, through

new laddering activities with K-12 schools and the Lynde and Harry Bradley School of Technology and Trade. An ECAM-related marketing campaign invites the public to “embrace technology.”

An Idea, Not Just a Building

Innovative, collaborative solutions are needed if manufacturing is to survive and thrive. Globalization has created such severe threats that the industry needs fresh, forward-thinking approaches.

Accordingly, said Sandra McClary, director of MATC’s Office of Corporate Learning, ECAM was intended as a clearinghouse of shared knowledge for all stakeholders. These include business leaders, managers, planners, strategists, and developers, along with trade unions, trade associations, professional associations, educators, technical experts and government leaders.

“Stakeholders shaped development of the ECAM concept, and the completed facility reflects their vision,” McClary said. “I’ve said from the beginning that ECAM isn’t just a building. It’s an idea.”

Facilities Highlights

An Advanced Manufacturing Lab features latest-generation, full-size, industrial, programmable, CNC machining and turning centers.

Closely aligned with it, the Manufacturing Welding Lab teaches the most exacting techniques and processes for joining sheet steel and heavy plate.

An Advanced Software Lab features latest-generation software and hardware for energy conservation, advanced manufacturing, digital building controls and corporate training.

An Energy Solutions Lab demonstrates how technology processes can benefit from smart-energy applications and policies, aligned with principles of lean manufacturing and continuous improvement.

At the HVAC Digital Controls Lab, students learn how to manage and maintain the new wireless, digital technologies for high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, now being installed in the new, high-performance green buildings.

“Other labs will be added in the coming year and also feature a variety of advanced technologies,” said Dorothy Walker, ECAM site manager and associate dean for manufacturing programs. “But already we have a strong foundation for our spring-semester launch.”

For more information, call 414.273.ECAM or visit matc.edu/ECAM.