New training program prepares veterans, others to enter advanced manufacturing workforce

While 26-year-old wounded veteran Joseph Grabianowski has inspired Americans with his harrowing war story, someday he may be nationally known for building highly efficient exhaust systems for cars and trucks using 3D printing technology.

Grabianowski—pictured at left at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in front of a 3D printer holding a 3D-printed DOE seal and the plastic material from which it was made—is part of the Energy Department’s inaugural Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advanced Manufacturing Internship. The pilot program is designed to provide accelerated, hands-on career training for veterans and next-generation engineers to prepare them to immediately enter the workforce of the growing advanced manufacturing industry.

Grabianowski stepped on an IED while deployed with his Army unit in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, in May 2012. Damage from the blast required a rare, radical amputation of his lower body. He had long dreamed of being a U.S. Marshal but knew his path would now lead in a new direction. In a December 2013 interview with USA Today, Grabianowski said, “I still love my country…even though I can’t go be a marshal now, I can still go do something that would be a good service to my country.”

Barely two years later, his successful recovery is a testament to his personal will and determination. This self-proclaimed techie now envisions a career for himself in what he calls the “future of manufacturing,” which is additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing. Through this pioneering program offered by the Energy Department’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Pellissippi State Community College, and ORNL, Grabianowski is receiving the training needed to make his career goals a reality and prepare him to succeed in the additive manufacturing world.

“Where this industry is going to boom is right here in Oak Ridge,” Grabianowski said, “and the best engineers in the field are available through this program to teach me.” [Read more…]