UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State is among eight universities selected to join a national initiative focused on preparing the future generation of workers to advance American manufacturing.
The Foundry School, a new training program from the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Labor, was announced on Sept. 3 in Washington, D.C. by Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg. The program is a collaborative partnership between higher education, industry and government to prepare the workforce for the future of manufacturing
President Neeli Bendapudi joined colleagues and government officials for the launch, where she participated in a panel discussion with Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University; Douglas Girod, chancellor of University of Kansas; and Ann Fairchild, president and CEO of Siemens USA, highlighting how higher education can be a catalyst for preparing the future workforce.
"Penn State is already at the forefront of advanced manufacturing, and we are well-positioned to be a strategic partner in this effort," said Bendapudi. " Advanced manufacturing is not one technology or one industry. It is an integrated system that brings together 3D printing, robotics, sensors, artificial intelligence, and other capabilities to make production faster, more flexible, and more responsive. That is why collaboration among universities, industry, and government is so important: no single institution can build the future of manufacturing alone."
The curriculum of the Foundry School will include 17 sessions across eight participating campuses taught by founders and CEOs from advanced manufacturing enterprises. Industry leaders from the United States, Korea, Japan and India will cover the fundamentals of modern factory design, materials and supply chains, assembly-line engineering, plant economics, regulation and permitting, and workforce development at scale, among others.
Penn State is not new to this work. The University already has a footprint in the technological advancements and workforce development efforts that are core to the Foundry School’s purpose.
“From engineering microcredentials to our Center for Innovative Materials Processing to industry partnerships, Penn State is thinking creatively about what is needed now to upskill the workforce and drive the innovation that keeps our nation at the forefront of manufacturing,” said Bendapudi. “Fundamental materials research, design, qualification science and workforce training are all happening inside Penn State.”
That work includes Penn State’s Additive Manufacturing and Design program, the first graduate program of its kind in the country. Offered online with an on-campus lab component, the program has placed more than 430 graduates in industry and government jobs. These students learn from more than 60 faculty members across materials science, mechanical engineering, engineering design, engineering mechanics, and industrial engineering.
Bendapudi also cited Penn State’s Learning Factory as another major way the University is already impacting nationwide workforce development and readiness. For more than 30 years, the Learning Factory has run industry-sponsored capstone projects, supporting more than 750 sponsors through 3,000 projects.
Penn State enrolls more than 15,000 undergraduate students in engineering majors, and over the last five years over 18,000 students graduated with undergraduate degrees. Additionally, in 2025, there were close to 2,100 master's and doctoral students between University Park and World Campus.