Recruiting skilled manufacturing talent is expensive, time-consuming, and unpredictable. But it doesn’t have to be.

Recorded during a recent career fair for the Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) program at IALR, this episode features Slade Gardner from Big Metal Additive, John Duncan from Penn United Technology and Ashley Webb from Vulcan Tool Company. They explain why they rely on ATDM to meet their workforce needs.

From reduced training risk to graduates who “hit the ground running,” these employers explain what makes ATDM different and why the program continues to deliver value to companies across the defense industrial base.

Whether you’re hiring one machinist or building a long-term talent pipeline, this is the employer story behind ATDM.

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research serves as a regional catalyst for economic transformation in Southern Virginia. Our services, programs and offerings are diverse, impactful and far reaching.

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In this special mini episode, IALR President Telly Tucker sits down with Casie Hansen, who recently graduated from the Non-Destructive Testing track of the Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM). Casie shares how she discovered ATDM, what it was like to uproot her life and start over in her 40s and how the program’s training and wraparound support helped her step confidently into a completely new career path.

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research serves as a regional catalyst for economic transformation in Southern Virginia. Our services, programs and offerings are diverse, impactful and far reaching.

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What does it actually take to move a new technology from the lab to the shop floor and make it stick?

In this episode of Inside IALR, host Caleb Ayers is joined by Jason Wells, John Ring, Josh Sims, and Jeremiah Williams for a deep dive into IALR's Center for Manufacturing Advancement (CMA).

Together, they highlight how CMA functions as a hands-on optimization arm focused on operationalizing existing technologies and helping manufacturers avoid the infamous “valley of death” between readiness levels and real production. It's not a research institute,

The conversation covers CMA’s full-stack approach to manufacturing advancement, from precision machining, additive post-processing, and metrology to automation, robotics integration and digital/AI enablement.

The team explains how the CMA serves as a non-biased third-party testbed where manufacturers can explore new technologies, validate processes and refine workflows without shutting down production or making massive capital bets. The CMA comes alongside companies as a partner—not a vendor—to help them get to “more, better, faster, cheaper” without just shifting bottlenecks somewhere else.

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research serves as a regional catalyst for economic transformation in Southern Virginia. Our services, programs and offerings are diverse, impactful and far reaching.

Get updates from IALR on other channels:

• Facebook
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• Email Newsletter
• News Stories