Ohio State University is one of seven schools nationwide that will begin a novel manufacturing curriculum aiming to help fill an estimated 3.8 million skilled jobs needed by 2033.
To be launched by Vice President JD Vance Sept. 3 in Washington D.C., including a White House ceremony with school officials, the Trump administration will announce Foundry School, a new national workforce program to train the engineers, technicians, and industrial leaders needed for the future, Jacob Helberg, U.S Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, told The Dispatch Sept. 1 in an exclusive interview.
Ohio was chosen for a reason, he said.
"Ohio and a handful of other states are at the heart of America's re-industrialization, said Helberg. "Employers are hiring
faster than they can find someone."
Helberg grew up in Toledo and his father graduated from OSU. He's familiar with many of the state's manufacturing projects including Anduril Industries (autonomous aircraft near Rickenbacker International Airport) and Intel (computer chip foundry project near Johnstown).
The curriculum was developed by Stanford University to help forge partnerships in the semiconductors, defense, and energy sectors of which Ohio has several examples. The program is part of Pax Silica, the State Department's flagship initiative to secure trusted global supply chains, Helberg said.
The other schools are Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Penn State, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Kansas, and Vanderbilt.
The curriculum will include textbooks and a 17-part "master class" video lecture series taught by mostly experts and mostly current CEOs of manufacturing companies,, both U.S. and elsewhere, Helberg said.
The first phase of instruction to begin this month includes fundamentals of modern factory design, materials and supply chains, assembly-line engineering, plant economics, regulation and permitting and workforce development at scale.
A second, 10-session core program will be hosted by Stanford, and begin in January 2027, to include topics of advanced manufacturing capabilities, including precision tooling, industrial automation, quality systems, new product introduction, digital manufacturing, capital equipment, energy, global site selection and defense production.
OSU President Ravi V. Bellamkonda called OSU a national leader in advanced manufacturing and said the university is excited for the partnership.
"The university has a number of labs and centers, including the Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence, already partnering with employers to educate the next generation of manufacturing leaders, and the Foundry School will further enhance our offerings and help us tailor Ohio State's student experience to grow Ohio’s economy and maximize job opportunities for our graduates," Bellamkonda said in an email to The Dispatch. "This work is core to our land grant mission, and Ohio State is proud to play a leading role."
OSU students won't receive academic credit for the instruction, other than for the classes the curriculum is a part of, many of them engineering and business related, Helberg said.
"The Trump administration’s goal is straightforward: rebuild the workforce, build the factories, and restore America’s capacity to make the things we need, securing a new Golden Age of American manufacturing," Helberg said.
Growth and development reporter Dean Narciso can be reached at dnarciso@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Trump administration partners with Ohio State on new manufacturing curriculum
