Workforce Development

ASPIRE takes a comprehensive, research-based approach to workforce development with the aim to support our envisioned cross industry transformations, national scale electric and transportation infrastructure projects, and significant domestic job growth. Our goal is to prepare the electrification workforce and beneficiary communities of the future to understand, operate within, and design for resilient electric infrastructure; integrating technical, professional, and social analytic capacities. We see opportunities for engagement, training, and retooling across the industries, from trades and community colleges, to undergraduate and graduate education, to ongoing professional development.

Our approach is informed by formal engineering education research, and our strategy to achieving our goals entail (1) building durable infrastructure pathways for learner success; (2) developing engineering and electrification-related curriculum that addresses key competencies in systems-of-systems thinking, integrating technical knowledge into professional skills and training; and (3) deploying research-proven participatory learning strategies, from primary through undergraduate and graduate education, to the technical and professional workforce, and in informal settings for all ages. The ASPIRE programs will result in broad public dissemination of technology advances, methods, and tools, and a vast library of vetted precollege, undergraduate, graduate, professional, and community educational content.