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Design and Development
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Advanced Manufacturing begins with Design and Development. No matter what the product that is to be made and sold, someone has to start with an idea and design, develop a prototype, and then test it and refine it before mass production can occur.

Many advanced manufacturing companies, especially large ones, have their own design and development departments. These departments focus on product design, development, and improvement as well as on cost-effective refinements to the manufacturing process itself. Other companies specialize in the design engineering of new products or on manufacturing process improvement.

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If you are interested in advanced manufacturing Design and Development, the kind of jobs and careers that you might consider include the following:

Designer, Commercial and Industrial

What you'll be doing all day: Look around you. Every product you see someone designed--airplanes, cars, toys, lounge chairs, mountain bikes, toasters, cell phones, ball point pens--someone designed all that and more. You'll combine artistic talent with product research, customer insight, marketing, materials, and production methods to create the stuff people use in their daily lives.

You'll get paid to be a creative thinker and work with everyone from engineers to consumers. From idea to full-fledged product, you'll be part of making it happen. If you're interested in specializing in industrial designer, you'd typically concentrate on a subspecialty such as kitchen appliances, auto interiors, or plastic-molding machinery.

What someone with a little experience makes (roughly): $52,260

What type of education you'll need: Bachelor's Degree

Model Maker

What you'll be doing all day: Remember building scale models and carving stuff out of clay when you were a kid? Well, now you'll get paid to do it for real. No joke. Does this sound like a great job or what?

Maybe you'll be sculpting a full-scale model of a futuristic car. Or maybe something smaller-like the next superhero action figure? You'll be making molds for anything from candles and bobbleheads to silverware and candy bars. Artistic talent and en eye for detail are a must with this job.

What someone with a little experience makes (roughly): $24,700

What type of education you'll need: On the Job Training, Apprenticeship

Nanotechnologist

What you'll be doing all day: Architects work with bricks. You'll be like an architect, but you'll be working with atoms instead of bricks. Nanotechnology is the study and design of systems at the nanometer size - one billionth of a meter. It's a huge job on a tiny, tiny scale.

The ability to manipulate materials on the nanoscale could revolutionize the way that almost everything is designed and made. Huge computers shrunk down to the size of a pinhead. Complex robots the size of a flea. And other things you wouldn't normally think of-like protective coatings for sunglasses and stain-free clothing.

What someone with a little experience makes (roughly): $40,000

What type of education you'll need: Associate's Degree, Bachelor's Degree

Copyright © Dream It. Do It.

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Advanced manufacturing companies can be found in every state and region of the country, but some places have more of these businesses than others. You can begin to explore where these companies are in your community by using CareerOneStop. Under the "Career Tools" section on the homepage, access the "Employer Locator" link and make a series of selections to identify the names of potential employers in your state and hometown.

Local newspapers, trade organizations, and labor unions can also be useful sources for learning about advanced manufacturing companies and their employment opportunities.

The above sample occupations are from the National Association of Manufacturers' Dream It, Do It web site (www.dreamit-doit.com), which introduces young people to these and other career opportunities in advanced manufacturing. This source also describes the education and training needed for these careers.

For a quick overview of what this site offers, click the link.

 

Finally, you can look into the advanced manufacturing education and training opportunities right here at Career Voyages by clicking any of the orange buttons below.

Check out the information these other sites have to offer!

 

Education and Training in Advanced Manufacturing

Apprenticeship Certifications Community Colleges 4-year Colleges Other Options
Industry Overview In-Demand Occupations

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