The Society of Manufacturing Engineering (SME) recently presented Greenville Technical College with the organization’s inaugural SME 2025 Workforce Development Innovations Award. The award was created to celebrate organizations that drive meaningful change in workforce training and education, ensuring a strong pipeline for manufacturing in North America.
SME cites programs distinguished by strong industry partnerships, state-of-the-art facilities, and a comprehensive, industry-aligned curriculum. With emerging technologies incorporated into the curriculum, workforce development initiatives feature stackable credentials and diverse pathways across manufacturing, engineering, and transportation.
The School of Advanced Manufacturing and Transportation Technology provides classes for over 600 credit and non-credit students annually including dual-enrolled high school students. The school offers many experiential learning opportunities through internships, apprenticeships and tech scholar programs with local industry.
Programs that educate mechatronics technicians, machinists, and electronic technicians are offered at the college’s Center for Manufacturing Innovation, which has served as a solution to the advanced manufacturing skills gap challenge since 2016.
Programs within the School of Advanced Manufacturing, Transportation, and Technology boast strong job placement rates with 89% of Automotive and Diesel Technology graduates finding employment within six months, and 93% of graduates of the Advanced Manufacturing and CNC Machining programs finding employment in their field.
The School of Advanced Manufacturing, Transportation, and Technology offers the state’s first bachelor’s degree at a two-year institution, the Bachelor in Applied Science in Advanced Manufacturing Technology. This degree is an answer to employer needs for an educational step beyond the associate degree in order to create candidates for leadership positions.
“We are thrilled to be the first recipient of the SME Workforce Development Innovations Award,” said Dr. Keith Miller, president of Greenville Technical College. “This honor is especially meaningful as it recognizes our commitment to meeting the hiring needs of employers by delivering industry-relevant education that means success for our graduates.”
Established in 1932 as a nonprofit organization, SME represents the entire North American manufacturing industry, including manufacturers, academia, professionals, students, and the communities in which they operate. Believing that manufacturing holds the key to economic growth and prosperity, SME designs new ways to understand and solve problems as the organization creates solutions that advance the next wave of growth in manufacturing.