Higher Education’s New Value Proposition: Knowledge You Can Put to Work – Dr. Eric Baumgartner, President of MSOE – Part 2

Higher education faces a difficult equation: fewer traditional students, intensifying competition, and rising questions about the value of a four-year degree, even as industry struggles to find technical talent. For Dr. Eric Baumgartner, the challenge is to preserve what works while building an institution capable of responding to technologies and workforce needs that are still taking shape.In Part 2 of this conversation, Baumgartner, president of the Milwaukee School of Engineering, explains how MSOE is approaching that responsibility with an applied, industry-driven strategy. The goal is not to treat AI as a standalone specialty, but to combine it with the engineering, nursing, business and construction knowledge required to solve real problems. The conversation also examines what colleges provide when information itself has become a commodity. Baumgartner argues that subject-matter expertise is not enough without strong teaching practices, hands-on application and learning environments that require students to think, collaborate and test ideas.Listen to Learn:Why higher education must rethink its value proposition How MSOE is integrating AI into technical disciplines Why applying knowledge matters as much as acquiring itWhy access to information is changing the value of subject-matter expertise What separates strong teaching from simply delivering information in a classroom3 Big Takeaways:1.       The value of higher education increasingly depends on what students can do with what they know. Access to information alone is no longer enough to distinguish a college education. At MSOE, that means creating learning experiences where students apply what they know through hands-on and work-based learning.2.       AI becomes more valuable when it is paired with domain expertise. Rather than separating AI from the rest of the curriculum, MSOE is integrating it with fields such as engineering, nursing, business and construction. The technology becomes a tool students can apply within a discipline, while technical knowledge gives them the context to determine when and how to use it.3.       Subject-matter expertise alone does not make someone an effective teacher. As access to information becomes easier, the value of an educator increasingly comes from how that knowledge is taught and applied. For Eric Baumgartner, that meant creating an environment where students are challenged to think, collaborate and test ideas rather than simply receive information.Resources in the Episode:Learn more about Milwaukee School of EngineeringOther resources mentioned:·        Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory·        The Alchemy of Growth: Practical Insights for Building the Enduring Enterprise·        The Life-Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery·        NVIDIAMore links & resources on the episode page:https://techedpodcast.com/eric/We want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

Unlike most engineers, growing up, Eric Baumgartner wasn't the kid building things in his garage. And yet, his love for science fiction and Carl Sagan books opened a world of possibilities beyond his small hometown, eventually leading to a fascinating career driving rovers across the surface of Mars.Today, Dr. Eric Baumgartner is president of the Milwaukee School of Engineering. But before returning to academia, he turned that childhood fascination with space into a decade-long career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, helping develop the robotic arms for Spirit and Opportunity and becoming one of the first engineers to drive the rovers on Mars.In this episode, Baumgartner takes host Matt Kirchner behind the scenes of a job few people will ever have, from sending commands millions of miles away to working a schedule built around the Martian day. He shares one of his most nerve-racking days, when he promised he could place a spectrometer on a tiny Martian “blueberry” before he actually knew how to do it. His eventual decision to leave JPL and return to academia brings his story full circle and sets up Part 2 of the conversation.Listen to Learn:How a future roboticist found his childhood inspiration in booksWhat it means to "drive” a rover millions of miles away on MarsWhy driving a Mars rover meant living and working on Martian timeHow a Martian “blueberry” helped scientists uncover evidence of Mars’ watery past Why extraordinary engineering applications still rely on foundational principles3 Big Takeaways1. Inspiration can come from unexpected places. Baumgartner wasn’t a childhood tinkerer or builder, yet his fascination with science fiction and Carl Sagan led him toward a career in engineering at NASA. Seeing possibilities beyond his own experience gave Baumgartner a direction long before he knew how he would get there.  2. Good engineering anticipates problems before they happen. Driving Opportunity meant building command sequences on Earth before sending them to Mars, where the rover executed them autonomously. For Baumgartner, that meant thinking through what could go wrong on Mars before he would have the chance to respond from Earth.3. The more advanced the application, the more important the fundamentals become. At JPL, Baumgartner initially saw the work as “crazy engineering,” but came to recognize that the extraordinary part was the application: putting a robotic arm on Mars and positioning a spectrometer on a target only millimeters across. Underneath those extraordinary applications were the same foundational engineering principles he had learned years earlier.Resources in this Episode:Learn more about Milwaukee School of EngineeringLearn more about NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryOther resources mentioned:Cosmos by Carl SaganMore links & resources on the episode page:https://techedpodcast.com/eric/We want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

Established companies have scale, capital, infrastructure and decades of experience. Startups have the benefit of fresh thinking and fewer constraints. But disruption and winning in 2026 and beyond doesn't belong to either one. The advantage goes to organizations willing to question assumptions, eliminate complexity and move fast.Slate Auto is disrupting an established market. They're challenging the price and complexity of buying a car. They're redesigning vehicles to be a blank slate (pun intended), with full customization in the hands of the customer. It all comes back to their mindset of being fast, frugal and scrappy. Slate Auto board member and employee #1 Rod Copes shares the inside scoop on the unconventional auto company disrupting everything we knew about the market. Listen to learn:How to find blue ocean opportunities and white space, even in established marketsWhat “fast, frugal, and scrappy” looks like as an operating philosophyWhy speed matters more than size in today's competitive environmentHow customer obsession and simplicity can be the keys to a great productHow established organizations can bring startup speed and ingenuity into their own business3 Big Takeaways1. The most successful organizations find the white space in their market. Instead of entering a saturated market, smart organizations find customer needs that the existing marketing isn't serving. Slate Auto did exactly that with affordable EVs that remove the complexity from buying while making them totally customizable to the buyer.2. In manufacturing, the simpler the process, the better. A typical new vehicle has 2,500 to 3,000 incoming parts, while Slate Auto has reduced that to roughly 600 to 800 by designing parts to serve multiple functions. Fewer parts also mean fewer buyers, engineers, invoices and supply chain demands, so the savings extend far beyond the assembly line.3. “It’s not the big that eat the small; it’s the fast that eat the slow.” For Rod Copes, speed is every bit as important for established companies as it is for startups. Being “fast, frugal, and scrappy” means questioning extended development cycles, staying focused on the critical path and refusing to accept slow processes simply because that’s how it's always been done.Resources in this Episode:Learn more about Slate AutoOther resources mentioned:RivianSmart Automation Certification Alliance (SACA)More links & resources on the episode page:https://techedpodcast.com/copes/We want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

School funding, teacher pay, CTE, Workforce Pell, competency-based education, technical careers, automation and industry credentials are all part of a changing conversation about education in Wisconsin.In this episode, host Matt Kirchner sits down with Tom Tiffany, U.S. Congressman and candidate for governor of Wisconsin, to discuss how he would approach education and workforce policy at the state level. Tiffany shares his views on education funding and accountability, teacher compensation, alternative pathways into teaching, federal support for shorter-term workforce training and the role of private investment in schools.The conversation also looks at what modern career and technical education can include, particularly hands-on learning, robotics and automation, competency-based education and stackable credentials that connect high school, technical colleges, universities and careers. We discuss examples already operating in Wisconsin, including Whitehall School District, UW-Stout and the Smart Automation Certification Alliance, as well as existing state programs that fund CTE and industry-recognized credentials.Note: The TechEd Podcast does not endorse political candidates. Tom Tiffany’s opponent has also been invited to join the podcast for a conversation about education.Listen to learn:How Tom Tiffany would approach school funding and accountability in WisconsinHis ideas for increasing teacher pay and expanding alternative routes into teachingHow Workforce Pell expands federal support for shorter-term technical trainingWhy competency-based education comes up as an alternative to fixed-time learningHow robotics, automation and stackable credentials fit into modern CTE pathwaysWe want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

At IACMI, aerospace companies, material suppliers, startups, universities, and national laboratories gather around the same table, often with the same goal: finding the next composites breakthrough.In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, Matt Kirchner sits down with Chad Duty, CEO of IACMI - The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, to explore the materials, technologies, and partnerships shaping the future of advanced manufacturing. Chad explains how composites are being deployed across aerospace, automotive, energy, infrastructure, and national defense applications, and how nearly 200 member organizations work together to move ideas from research into commercial production.We also explore innovation in America - from the big OEMs to small startups - and how the U.S. needs to get back to building. Chad describes an innovation ecosystem that includes organizations such as Northrop Grumman, Google, Airbus, Volkswagen, ExxonMobil, universities, national laboratories, and small manufacturers. He argues that manufacturing capability remains one of America's most important competitive advantages, but only if the country continues developing the talent pipeline needed to sustain innovation, production, and economic growth.In this episode:Breakthrough innovations in composites and their uses that will blow your mindWhy major manufacturers increasingly look to startups for innovations they can mineWhy early exposure is key to both getting more individuals into manufacturing and ensuring they're successful on Day 1Where the U.S. has strayed from our roots as innovators and builders, and how we can fix it3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:1. Many of manufacturing's most important innovations originate in small and mid-sized companies.IACMI's network includes nearly 200 organizations ranging from startups and family-owned manufacturers to companies such as Northrop Grumman, Airbus, Google, and ExxonMobil. Chad describes large manufacturers using consortium meetings as a form of "innovation mining," searching for solutions developed by smaller firms with specialized expertise. The result is an innovation ecosystem where breakthrough ideas often move from small manufacturers into some of the world's largest industrial organizations.2. Composite materials are expanding into industries and applications that most people would never associate with advanced manufacturing.Learn about where composites are being used in innovative ideas today, from carbon-core transmission lines being explored to meet growing data-center power demands, to corrosion-resistant infrastructure and a composite bridge that can be monitored in real time through embedded sensors. Chad also points to projects such as a lighter composite liftgate for Volkswagen and Army Corps of Engineers applications where durability and corrosion resistance can dramatically extend infrastructure life.3. A nation that stops making things eventually loses its ability to innovate.Chad argues that innovation and manufacturing are inseparable because companies learn by designing, building, testing, and improving products in the real world. That belief shape IACMI's workforce strategy, which begins with elementary-school exposure, continues through online learning and boot camps, and extends into internships, apprenticeships, and industry experiences. Rebuilding America's manufacturing capacity, in his view, requires rebuilding the pipeline of people capable of participating in it.Get all the resources & links on the episode page: https://techedpodcast.com/dutyWe want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

In an age where anyone can create content, how do manufacturers (and people in any sector, really) know who to trust?In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, Kerry Gumas, CEO and Executive Vice Chairman of Gardner Business Media, joins Matt Kirchner for a fascinating conversation about trust, expertise, and the future of information in American manufacturing. As content becomes easier to create and AI transforms how people discover information, Kerry argues that trusted expertise is becoming more valuable, not less. Drawing on nearly a century of manufacturing journalism and industry engagement, he shares how Gardner is evolving from a traditional media company into a platform that connects manufacturers with intelligence, opportunity, and one another. The conversation explores the changing economics of media, the growing importance of proprietary data in the age of AI, and the launch of new initiatives such as Manufacturing Connected and Search Point. Along the way, Kerry and Matt discuss reindustrialization, defense manufacturing, entrepreneurship, supply-chain readiness, and why America's ability to educate, connect, and develop talent may ultimately determine its competitive future.In this episode, you’ll hear:Why trusted expertise matters more than ever in a world where anyone can publish.How Gardner is transforming nearly a century of manufacturing knowledge into AI-powered intelligence.Why America’s manufacturing resurgence depends on more than capital and technology.The supply-chain realities behind rebuilding the defense industrial base.Why the future of manufacturing may be limited less by machines than by talent.3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:1. Trust Has Become a Competitive Advantage in MediaAs content creation becomes easier and distribution channels multiply, audiences have more information available than ever before. Kerry argues that trusted brands, experienced editors, and deep industry relationships are becoming more valuable because they help people separate expertise from noise.2. Proprietary Data Is Becoming the Ultimate AI AdvantageWhile public information and generic datasets are increasingly available to everyone, unique data collected over years of operating a business creates a sustainable competitive edge. Gardner is leveraging decades of manufacturing content, engagement, and intelligence data to build AI-powered tools that deliver insights competitors cannot easily replicate.3. Reindustrialization Depends on Connecting Fragmented Manufacturing CommunitiesManufacturing is often treated as a single industry, but it is actually a collection of highly specialized communities that frequently operate in silos. Kerry believes stronger connections between manufacturers, suppliers, technology providers, investors, and defense contractors are essential to accelerating innovation, expanding capacity, and rebuilding American industrial strength.Resources in this Episode:Visit Gardner Business Media and learn about all their publications and resources for manufacturingManufacturing ConnectedSurgepointThis episode was filmed at IMTS in partnership with the Smartforce Student SummitConnect with our guest online:Kerry Gumas - LinkedIn  |  LinkedIn  |  FacebookView more on the episode page! We want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

For the first time in more than half a century, NASA is preparing to send humans around the Moon, laying the foundation for a sustained lunar presence and the eventual journey to Mars.Just months after the successful completion of Artemis II, Sharon Cobb, Associate Program Manager for NASA's Space Launch System, returns to The TechEd Podcast with a behind-the-scenes look at the engineering, manufacturing, testing, data and emotions that went into the successful Artemis II mission.Sharon shares firsthand stories, like facing a critical hydrogen leak discovered during testing, how NASA solved the problem without rolling the rocket back from the launch pad, and why the mission ultimately achieved an astonishing 99.94% orbital insertion accuracy. She also explains how breakthroughs in additive manufacturing, digital modeling, and systems engineering are transforming the way rockets are designed, built, and tested.Looking ahead, Sharon outlines NASA's vision for NASA's Moon Base the infrastructure needed for a sustained human presence on the lunar surface, and the technologies that will make future missions to Mars possible. Along the way, she offers her perspective on the "Artemis Generation," why systems thinking matters more than ever, and how students can prepare today for careers that may not even exist yet.In this episode, you’ll hear:3 skills students need if they want to work at NASAHow 3,800 suppliers across all 50 states help power ArtemisWhy NASA can now simulate missions that once required live testingThe manufacturing breakthrough changing how rocket engines are builtWhat it'll take to achievema sustained presence on the moon (and eventually Mars)3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:1. Artemis II was the product of thousands of engineering decisions made between launches.Between Artemis I and Artemis II, NASA teams stacked and integrated the vehicle, completed multiple rounds of testing, investigated and resolved a hydrogen leak discovered during a wet dress rehearsal, and modified hardware to improve performance. The mission ultimately achieved 99.94% orbital insertion accuracy, validating years of analysis, simulation, testing, and problem-solving across the program.2. NASA's success depends on a nationwide manufacturing ecosystem. The Artemis program relies on 3,800 suppliers across all 50 states to provide the components, materials, and systems required to build and launch its missions. Sharon emphasized that behind every launch are manufacturers, technicians, welders, quality professionals, and skilled tradespeople whose work must meet exceptionally demanding standards because many of these components have only one opportunity to perform.3. The Artemis Generation will build Moon Base and carry humanity farther into deep space. As NASA shifts its focus toward Moon Base, future missions will require the engineers, technicians, program managers, systems thinkers, and manufacturing professionals capable of building lunar infrastructure and eventually enabling missions to Mars. Sharon highlighted multiple pathways into those careers, including internships, two-year technical degrees, certifications, apprenticeships, and traditional engineering programs, emphasizing that there is no single route into a place like NASA.Resources in this Episode:Catch up on the story by starting with episode 1 with Sharon Cobb: From the Moon to Mars: NASA's Artemis Program and the Future of Space ExplorationArtemis ProgramSpace Launch System (SLS)Get access to NASA Career & Internship resources and more on the show notes page: https://techedpodcast.com/cobb2/We want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

Innovation doesn’t always look revolutionary. Sometimes it looks like putting shredded cheese in a bag.For more than 70 years, Sargento Foods has built a business around seeing possibilities in places others might overlook. From pioneering packaged shredded cheese and resealable packaging to spending a decade developing a new natural cheese, innovation at Sargento isn’t a one-time initiative. It’s a pipeline stretching years into the future.CEO Louie Gentine joins us to share the unlikely story behind the family business and how that same appetite for invention is shaping its future. We get into the mortician-machinist-entrepreneur who helped start it all, the consumer insights behind new products, and the automation transforming Sargento’s factories. Louie also explains why technology should make manufacturing jobs better, what he means by the “gamification of the factory floor,” and why employers and educators need to work together to prepare the next generation.In this episode, you’ll hear:The mortician-machinist who helped launch SargentoWhy shredded cheese was once a big ideaHow Sargento builds a five-year innovation pipelineRobots, automation and the “gamification” of the factory floorWhy tomorrow’s workforce needs technical skills and soft skills3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:1. The best innovations solve problems so well that eventually they seem obvious. Sargento was the first to put shredded cheese in a bag and the first perishable product to use resealable packaging, innovations that are now grocery-store standards. The common thread is understanding what consumers are doing, where their needs are headed and finding the opportunity others haven’t acted on yet.2. Automation works best when it makes people’s jobs better. Sargento has invested heavily in robotics and automation to eliminate repetitive, physically demanding work, while committing to move employees into different roles rather than eliminate their jobs. As technology reshapes the plant, Louie sees manufacturing moving toward a more engaging, technology-driven, even “gamified” workplace.3. A strong workforce needs technical skills and soft skills in equal measure. As manufacturing becomes more technical, employers need people who can build capabilities while still communicating, collaborating and holding themselves accountable. Louie stresses that education can’t prioritize one at the expense of the other: the workforce needs both.Resources in this Episode:Learn more about Sargento FoodsSargento's commitment to food, housing & educationMore links, resources & connect with our guest online through the show notes page: https://techedpodcast.com/gentine/We want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

The United States produces some of the best STEM researchers in the world. But there’s a structural mismatch in how many of them are trained: roughly two-thirds of STEM PhDs in fields like engineering ultimately work in industry, while doctoral programs remain largely designed around the academic research environment.In this episode, Tony Boccanfuso, President and CEO of UIDP, joins us to examine the disconnect between doctoral education and the careers most STEM PhDs actually pursue, why industry experience requires more than an internship, and how a shared-investment model could create another pathway for developing the scientists, researchers and innovators driving the U.S. economy.In this episode:Why most STEM PhDs leave academia, but doctoral training still prepares them to stayThe skills even exceptional PhD researchers often have to learn on the jobWhy U.S. research is reaching an inflection pointInside the $90 million experiment putting PhD researchers inside industryA new funding model that gives universities, companies and government “skin in the game”What could make an industry-integrated PhD a competitive advantage for universities3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:1. The gap between doctoral education and industry isn’t technical expertise; it’s learning to conduct research within the realities of a business. Companies tell UIDP that PhD graduates are exceptionally well prepared technically, but many haven’t worked within multidisciplinary teams, fixed timelines, budgets or stage-gated R&D processes. In industry, even successful research can be discontinued because priorities, markets or economics change, requiring researchers to understand the commercial context surrounding their work.2. Industry-integrated PhDs can add real-world experience without replacing the rigor or research depth of the traditional doctorate. UIDP’s model requires students to spend at least one year conducting dissertation research at a company-controlled site, with an industry mentor participating alongside their academic mentor. Students also complete an industry-focused certificate covering skills identified by employers, while their industry research becomes part of the dissertation itself.3. Shared investment could create a new way to expand America’s STEM research capacity while tying more doctoral research to economic and national priorities. UIDP’s roughly $90 million pilot combines university support with NSF and company funding to support 250 STEM PhD students, with participating companies investing $100,000 per student. Demand emerged quickly: UIDP had three dozen university-industry pairs interested before NSF funding was secured and received 145 applications just over a month after the award, suggesting significant interest in another pathway for funding and training PhD researchers.Resources in this Episode:Learn more about UIDPI-Phd Scholars (Industry-Integrated PhD) ProgramRead about the launch of the I-PhD launchConnect with our guest online:Tony Boccanfuso - LinkedIn  |  LinkedIn  |  FacebookMore note & resources on the episode page: https://techedpodcast.com/uidp/We want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

Apprenticeship is no longer synonymous with the construction trades. Healthcare organizations are training medical assistants and registered nurses through apprenticeship. Schools are using the model to prepare teachers. Employers are applying it to occupations from arboriculture to human resources. At the same time, more high school students are using Youth Apprenticeship to begin building skills and gaining paid work experience before they graduate.So what actually makes something an apprenticeship, and why are so many industries taking a fresh look at a model that has existed for more than a century?David Polk, Director of Apprenticeship at the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, takes us inside the modern apprenticeship system. A third-generation apprentice who began his own career as a plumber, David now leads one of the country’s most established state apprenticeship systems and serves as president of the National Association of State and Territorial Apprenticeship Directors.In this episode, we break down Registered Apprenticeship and Youth Apprenticeship, how the earn-and-learn model combines paid employment with structured education and mentorship, and what it takes for employers to participate. David also explains how apprenticeship is expanding into occupations that have never traditionally used the model, how states and the federal government shape apprenticeship policy and funding, and why earlier exposure to hands-on careers matters for the workforce pipeline.In this episode:What separates Registered Apprenticeship, Youth Apprenticeship and other forms of work-based learningHow earn-and-learn flips the traditional education-to-employment modelWhy apprenticeship is expanding into healthcare, education, HR and other occupations beyond the tradesHow employers can use Youth Apprenticeship to build an earlier connection with future talentHow federal policy, state systems and funding influence apprenticeship growth3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:1. Apprenticeship integrates education and employment instead of treating them as separate stages.2. Apprenticeship is a workforce development model, not a category of trades careers.3. Building the workforce pipeline starts earlier than the point of hire.Resources in this Episode:Wisconsin Apprenticeships - Find more about registered, youth and certified pre-apprenticeshipU.S. Department of Labor - ApprenticeshipsWisTRAIN grantsWisconsin Fast Forward grantsHEART Grant for rural healthcareNational Association of State and Territorial Apprenticeship Directors (NASTAD)Email the WI DWD Apprenticeship teamMore notes & resources on the episode page: https://techedpodcast.com/polkWe want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn