The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing is excited to announce and invite you to participate in the upcoming NCNGM Summit 2025.This exciting event will take place at FANUC America Corporation, a leader in automation and robotics, known for its innovative contributions to the manufacturing sector. We are thrilled to be collaborating with the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers (NCATC), an organization dedicated to advancing technology education and workforce development nationwide. We aim to create a platform that fosters dialogue, innovation, and collaboration among industry leaders, educators, and students.

Here are important details to note:

NCNGM Summit 2025

FANUC America Corporation HQ in Rochester Hills, MI

October 15-17, 2025 The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing is pleased to announce that the following speakers will be in attendance at the

NCNGM Summit 2025

Often referred to as the leader of The New American Manufacturing Renaissance, Andrew Crowe is one of the most influential people in manufacturing today. Andrew, or Drew as he prefers, strives to ignite and energize American manufacturing by exposing youth, community, political leaders, and underserved communities to this industry. His mission is to ensure that we put our best innovators, creators, and thinkers in spaces where they can thrive and grow.

Drew's impressive resume includes addressing the White House and Pentagon on industrial policy, a feature in Forbes Magazine in April 2022, and was voted Aerospace & Aviation Man of the Year twice. Above all, he is well-positioned to lead minds and movers on the front lines in the critical battle to close the workforce and skills gap in manufacturing, making him a highly sought-after speaker and consultant in the field by teaching industry leaders how to reach, hire, and retain the next generation of the manufacturing!

Paul Lavoie was announced as the University of New Haven’s first vice president of innovation and applied technology on June 20, 2025. He will begin his tenure at the University in July.

Lavoie, the state of Connecticut’s chief manufacturing officer, will oversee the formation of the University’s pioneering Research and Development (R&D) Park. The R&D Park will be located in a reimagined 130,000-square-foot commercial space located directly adjacent to the University’s West Haven campus. In 2024, Lavoie was named one of the Top 5 Chief Manufacturing Officers in the world by Manufacturing Digital Magazine, joining leaders from Michelin, General Motors, Ferrari, and Johnson Controls. The University’s new R&D Park will be focused extensively on the areas of advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, robotics, automation, machine learning, and biotech, as well as industry 4.0 and 5.0.

Joe Baldiga is a National Education Account Manager at FANUC America Corporation. With over two decades of experience, Joe is familiar with all aspects of the FANUC world; from his humble beginnings in the FANUC Receiving Department, Joe has worked his way up the ranks and held positions in Customer Service, Field Service, Inside Sales, Training, New Business Development, Marketing, and now Education. 

Joe credits his time in the FANUC Training Department and the launch of FANUC’s CERT Program for igniting his passion for education. As technology advanced at a rapid pace, there emerged a growing divide between the demand for skilled workers and the available talent pool. Determined to address this challenge head-on, Joe and the Certified Education Training (CERT) Team have dedicated themselves to nurturing the next generation of manufacturing talent. Joe is a great advocate for vocational education and apprenticeship programs, recognizing the importance of hands-on training to prepare individuals for careers in advanced manufacturing.

Dr. Karen Wosczyna-Birch is the Executive Director and Principal Investigator of the National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing (NCNGM), a National Science Foundation (NSF) Center of Excellence. She has received over $30M in funding from the NSF, including two grants for international partnerships. Karen has implemented strategies resulting in an increase in the enrollment in STEM programs at the community colleges.

Karen has received numerous awards for her accomplishments as a professor and for her passion for increasing the STEM population. In 2014, she was invited to the White House College Opportunity Summit recognizing leaders for their commitment to STEM education. Most recently, she earned the 2020 HI TEC Innovative Program of the Year Award and the 2025 ITEEA Lawrence W. Praken Professional Cooperation Award. She also serves on numerous local and national boards including the Hartford High's Pathway for Engineering and Green Technology, and the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System.

J. Craig McAtee is the Executive Director & CEO for the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers (NCATC), Principal of McAtee Ventures, LLC, and former Director of Additive Manufacturing Technology for Tri-C. Before starting his own consulting company in 2007, McAtee served as Executive Director of the Workforce and Economic Development Division of Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Cleveland, Ohio for seven years. 

McAtee is a thought leader and futurist, fueled by his decades-long industry, education, and government experiences. He prides himself on being a unifying team-builder, problem solver, researcher, empathetic listener, and outside the box thinker that practices strategic thinking and decision making for the ecosystems he serves. McAtee is also a Business & Industry Leadership Teams (BILT) Academy Coach for 2020-2024 cohorts, a member of the 2021-2024 Business Leaders United (BLU) Manufacturing Recover Panel for the Biden Administration and a Keynote Speaker on “The Future of Work and Industry 4.0” across the nation, as time permits.

Dr. Ann Beheler is the Industry Engagement Director who strategically leads the Business Industry Leadership Team (BILT) high employer engagement model she developed for the National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing.  She has taught hundreds of colleges and universities to implement the model to deepen their employer relationships and align curriculum.  Additionally, due to her work with Miami Dade College and the National Applied Artificial Intelligence Consortium, she is uniquely positioned to lead upcoming industry-led work for integrating AI into Manufacturing programs. 

Over the past several years, she has dedicated herself to helping educators to better align undergraduate education in technical fields to the future knowledge, skill, and ability needs of business and industry through the BILT process she originated. This work has resulted in a much wider pipeline of well-qualified job candidates and increasing business engagement with higher education programs overall. Stay tuned for more speaker announcements and agenda activities!