Stratasys Launches AM Certification Program

Stratasys has started the Additive Manufacturing Certification Program in North America, designed to bridge what it calls the additive manufacturing (AM) skills gap. Engineered in conjunction with a consortium of colleges and universities, the program aims to enable students to secure accelerated AM credentials to improve employability and workforce readiness.

According to industry data, demand for certified AM workers to fill industry vacancies will increase substantially by the end of the decade. Unfortunately, many candidates are unable to prove job-relevant skills with consistent, industry-accepted benchmarks. The program provides companies in manufacturing, design and medical industries with measurable qualifications to prove applicants are workforce-ready.

The program’s educational partners include the Wentworth Institute of Technology, Dunwoody College of Technology, Iowa State University, University of California Irvine and Milwaukee School of Engineering. In addition to addressing evolving requirements for skilled AM workers, the education modules provide consistency of workforce readiness with an approved range of skill requirements.

“While demand for workers with AM expertise continues to rise, there’s really no across-the-board standard to judge credentials,” says Gina Scala, Director of Marketing, Global Education. “We’ve observed employers cannot always align job-specific readiness with additive manufacturing skills. Therefore, many workers fail to live up to expectations.” Backed by decades of AM experience, the company believes its certification program will align employer needs with worker skills.

Educational institutions enrolled in the certification program have access to 40 contact hours of exam preparation content organized through modules and accessible directly through Stratasys. Other resources for participating institutions include hands-on projects and labs, GrabCAD and InsightCAM software, module exams, instructor notes, and presentations. Enrolled students can tap into technical resources guides, industry use cases, and software and preparation notes.