How do you build a stronger workforce pipeline? You start with middle school students!

In this episode of Inside IALR, host Caleb Ayers sits down with Telly Tucker, Dr. Melanie Lewis, and Jake Taylor to explore the origins, growth, and future of GO TEC (Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers). What began as a pilot program in three schools has expanded to 84 middle schools across Virginia, introducing students to careers in manufacturing, engineering, automation, robotics, welding, additive manufacturing, and many more in-demand career fields.

The conversation explores how GO TEC supports economic development, strengthens the talent pipeline, aligns industry needs with classroom learning, and helps students make informed decisions about their futures. The group also discusses plans for statewide expansion, national growth, and the long-term vision for GO TEC's impact on workforce development.

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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How Carrie Williams Used ATDM to Build a New Career and a New Future

What do you do when life forces you to start over?

For Carrie Williams, the answer was taking a chance on herself. After a divorce left her searching for a more stable future, Carrie relocated from Ohio to Virginia to attend the Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) program. Four months later, she graduated from the non-destructive testing track and began a new career inspecting critical infrastructure and supporting industries that help keep people safe.

In this episode, Carrie discusses overcoming uncertainty, stepping outside her comfort zone at age 46, and how ATDM helped her develop the skills, confidence, and connections needed to succeed. Carrie also highlights her own career growth in the six months since graduation.

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 happens when you hand the microphones over to the interns?

In this special episode of Inside IALR, President Telly Tucker and Dr. John Hughes, Executive Vice President of Operations, sit down with four summer interns for a candid conversation about career goals, personal growth, college experiences, networking and what it's really like to work at IALR.

The discussion ranges from robotics and semiconductor design to marketing, sports communications, IT support, coffee habits and even solving Rubik's Cubes.

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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IALR has grown really fast. But, as President Telly Tucker explains, growth alone isn’t the goal.

In this conversation, Telly reflects on four years as president, sharing what it’s like to lead an organization that’s quadrupled in size, why culture matters more than ever during rapid change, and the real stories that make the work meaningful. It’s a candid look at leadership, impact and what comes next for IALR and the region.

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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Cedric and Ethan Bond are brothers who took very different paths before finding the same destination: training through the Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) program and careers at Newport News Shipbuilding.

In this episode, they talk about career crossroads, the reality of hands-on training, and why building ships for the U.S. Navy feels personal—especially with a brother currently deployed at sea.

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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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.

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