J.D. Vance speaks to a crowd as part of Provost Bruce McPheron’s Lecture Series at Ohio State’s Mershon Auditorium on Nov. 7, 2017. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Lantern File Photo
Ohio State is a leading partner with the Trump administration, Stanford University and six other universities for a national program that intends to support American college students in manufacturing.
Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced and launched Foundry School in Washington, D.C. with Ohio State President Ravi Bellamkonda in attendance on Sept. 3. Foundry School is a training program for entrepreneurs, engineers, technicians and industrial leaders to rebuild manufacturing in America, according to the fact sheet from the U.S. Department of State.
“I’m very grateful for this effort to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., Bellamkonda said at a State Department ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 3. “Coming from Ohio, it’s a big part of what’s making Ohio thrive and we’re happy to play our role in contributing to that.”
Foundry School is designed to help fill an estimated 3.8 million workers needed by 2033 in order to boost manufacturing roles to produce items such as semiconductors, and also to bolster the workforce in the defense and energy sectors, according to the Department of State.
“Some of the people who will fill those jobs are sitting in a high school class- room this morning,” Jacob Helberg, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, said at the launch ceremony. “That number is a promise kept.”
Ohio State is a leading partner of the new program, partnering with Arizona State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, University of Kansas, Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis.
“It’s not proof in terms of us establishing to the country about Ohio State and who we are,” Bellamkonda said at a Sept. 3 university Board of Trustees meeting. “It’s the country asking us to think about how important we are in its mission in re-industrialization, manufacturing and materials.”
Vance, an Ohio State alum who attended the university from Sept. 2007 – Aug. 2009, said that the program was in the works for a long time.
“I’m very proud that we have Ohio State front and center, along with Stanford, Penn State and a few other great universities,” Vance said.
On each campus in the program, the program will run 17 sessions, each taught by founders and CEOs from advanced manufacturing firms, according to Ohio State’s announcement of the program.
The curriculum will begin this year on supporting campuses and a core program, hosted by Stanford University, will start in January 2027, the Ohio State announcement said.
The Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence is a branch of Ohio State’s engineering program that bridges the gap between academic research and industrial manufacturing, according to a university website. CDME operates a 45,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that houses over $20 million in industrial-scale equipment.
“It is the largest manufacturing classroom in the country, I believe,” Bellamkonda said at the launch ceremony. “We have 100 different companies at any given time, 150 engineers, material science, chemists, physicists working together and scientists.”
Helberg said that after “talking heads” insisted that manufacturing was gone and that the country would not be able to afford bringing it back. He added that Trump proved them wrong.
“As the saying now goes, President Trump was right about everything,” Helberg said. “America cannot afford not to bring manufacturing back. No president has done more to reset the table for the American worker than President Trump. To tell the world: if you want to sell here, you build here.”
The program is still in its early stages.
