The Metrology Training Crisis: Industrial / Educational Partnerships May Close The Gap

Traditionally, metrology education from the entry level through the technician level was provided through the military. Technical training as well as on the job training for a 4 to 6 year commitment, provided the technical community with a pool of mid-level, broad-scoped, and high-level specialized applicants. As the military outsourced the metrology jobs to the civilian sector, the need to continue training programs began to diminish and the pool slowly dried up. The supply of qualified technicians was unable to keep up with the demand. An ever-growing need for these skills across a broad scope of industries only worsened the situation. This paper explains the decline in military Metrology training, the attempt to integrate the needed training into colleges and Universities, and Sypris Test & Measurement Inc.’s (ST&M) partnership efforts with Central Georgia Technical College and University of Central Florida to meet its Industrial Metrology needs.