From Technician to Technologist: How TechAMP is Filling Manufacturing's "Missing Middle"

Advanced manufacturing faces a persistent and growing workforce challenge. Engineers are trained to design systems. Technicians are trained to operate machines. But as manufacturing environments become more complex—integrating automation, robotics, digital controls, and data-driven processes—companies increasingly need professionals who can bridge the space in between.

That “missing middle” is where the technologist emerges.  It is also precisely the gap the Technologist Advanced Manufacturing Program—TechAMP—was designed to fill.

The Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC) in Pittsfield was designated as the first non-college educational hub in the nation authorized to deliver TechAMP, a year-long workforce development initiative designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. That designation positioned the Berkshires as an early proving ground for a new model of advanced manufacturing education—one centered not just on technical proficiency, but on systems thinking, integration, and leadership.

Bridging the Manufacturing Middle

TechAMP targets experienced technicians and operators—typically those with three or more years on the shop floor—and prepares them to become technologists: professionals who combine hands-on expertise with a systems-level understanding of manufacturing operations.  MIT Principal Research Scientist John Liu, one of the program’s architects, has described technologists as “the connective tissue of advanced manufacturing—linking design intent, production reality, and continuous improvement.”

Historically, that connective role has been underdeveloped. Engineers may understand system design, while technicians master specific equipment, but few are trained to optimize how technologies interact across an entire production environment. TechAMP was intentionally built to address that blind spot.

A Regional Partnership with National Implications

What makes the Berkshire implementation distinctive is the formal coordination among three institutions: MIT, the Berkshire Innovation Center, and Berkshire Community College (BCC).

The BIC serves as the physical learning hub and regional coordinator. MIT provides the national curriculum architecture and instructional framework. BCC supplies the academic credentialing pathway that enables working adults to translate industry-aligned learning into recognized college credit.

“This is an illustration of a truly coordinated and orchestrated effort,” said Dennis Rebelo, Chief Learning Officer at the Berkshire Innovation Center. “It sits right at the intersection of higher education, industry, and applied innovation—exactly where the future of workforce development needs to live.”

Formalizing the Pathway: A Year-End Milestone

That coordination became formalized during the final week of December 2025.  Laurie Gordy, Vice President of Academic Affairs at Berkshire Community College, and Rebelo signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a formal credit-recognition pathway between the MIT-designed TechAMP program delivered at the BIC and BCC’s Mechatronics degree program.

The agreement was the result of months of academic and strategic work. It was driven by Matthew P. Kenny, Dean of Science and Business at BCC, and carefully mapped by Jose Colmenares, who aligned TechAMP’s rigorous curriculum with BCC’s Mechatronics coursework.

“As a member of the MIT Tech AMP Community College Council, I have seen firsthand the program’s deep commitment to addressing the workforce needs of advanced manufacturing centered organizations,” Colmenares said. “This partnership will enable Berkshire Community College and the Berkshire Innovation Center to leverage MIT’s innovative curriculum, creating powerful educational synergies that strengthen advanced technical talent and build human capital across our region.”

Kenny emphasized the importance of the pathway from a student and community perspective.

“We are thrilled to help create a pathway for TechAMP students to join the Berkshire Community College community,” Kenny said. “This partnership supports our mission of creating clear, supportive pathways that build on students’ strengths and allow them to expand and achieve their goals.”

That work confirmed that TechAMP graduates can earn 28 college credits—nearly one full year of full-time study—without duplicating coursework or leaving the workforce.

“The intent was never symbolic,” Rebelo added. “This was about doing the hard academic work to ensure rigor, relevance, and real value for learners.”

Instructional Depth & Experiential Leadership

Instruction within TechAMP at the Berkshire Innovation Center is delivered by seasoned industry leaders who bring real-world systems thinking directly into the lab. Instructors include Rich Peters, former Chief Scientist at SABIC, and Jared Lebos, co-founder of Noble Carbon.

Rather than traditional lecture-based instruction, TechAMP labs are designed as experiential learning environments—spaces where instructors work alongside participants to translate theory into applied problem-solving and continuous improvement.

The Cohort Doing the Work Now

Perhaps the clearest signal of TechAMP’s relevance is the group of professionals currently enrolled in the program.  This year’s cohort includes experienced technicians and technical leaders from across the region’s manufacturing and industrial base:

Owen Baranoski, NE-XT Technologies

Jordan Callahan, Noble Carbon

Brett Gibeau, Sinicon Plastics / McCann Technical School

Joshua King, General Dynamics Mission Systems

Gayle Kittle, Boyd Biomedical

Forrest Luscier, General Dynamics Mission Systems

Matt McInerney, Interprint

David Munoz, TOURISTS Cabins

Lars Nielsen, TOURISTS Cabins

Luis Ortiz, Sinicon Plastics

Brenden Piaggi, Hi-Tech Mold & Tool

Jeff Saalfrank, Instrument Technology

Aron Autenrieth, Unistress

These are professionals already contributing to their organizations and to the regional economy, now investing in deeper systems-level and leadership capability.

From Early Implementation to National Expansion

What’s especially notable is that the work underway in the Berkshires is now informing MIT’s broader efforts to expand TechAMP nationally. Building on early implementations like the one at the BIC, MIT is actively working to bring the program to new regions across the country, with interest emerging in Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

That expansion reflects not just demand, but confidence—confidence built through early partnerships that demonstrated how TechAMP could succeed outside a traditional college setting, embedded within a regional innovation ecosystem.

As Julie Diop of MIT put it: “After the success of the BIC Academy, it made perfect sense to team up again with the BIC on TechAMP. We’re thrilled by the quality of instruction, the enthusiasm of the students, and the collaboration with Berkshire Community College. We couldn’t ask for a better partner.”

A National Model, Rooted Locally

For Berkshire County manufacturers, the impact is immediate: access to employees trained not just to operate equipment, but to lead process improvement, manage technological change, and drive innovation from within.

For workers, the value proposition is equally clear—career advancement, college credit, and nationally recognized training without leaving the region or pausing employment.

As TechAMP continues to scale nationally, the Berkshires are no longer simply adapting to the future of manufacturing. By engaging early, doing the hard coordination work, and investing in people already here, our region is helping to define what that future can look like.