The Robots are Here: Who is Going to Fix Them?
How will the current education models meet these needs and what transformation is necessary to ensure well-paying, engaging jobs for our people? Sarah Boisvert has pondered, researched, and torn apart these questions to develop models for 21st century humans looking to enter, or re-skill for, a New Collar workforce.
While automation is estimated to displace 75 million jobs worldwide through 2023, the World Economic Forum predicts double that number of opportunities will be created for workers skilled in what IBM’s Ginny Rometty calls “New Collar” jobs. These digital jobs that often don’t require college degrees employ disruptive technologies like 3D Printing, AR/VR, generative design, robotics, and AI that are now ubiquitous across industries. While the robots literally do the heavy lifting, someone has to design, program, monitor, and yes, fix, them. Human cognitive skills need to be developed to work with the Co-bots as well as other tools, and expand human potential from factory floors to transportation, hospital surgical theaters to art studios.
Sarah Boisvert is a thought leader in manufacturing, 3D Printing and innovative workforce training. Her mission is to create pathways that often do not require college degrees to well-paying, engaging [dare we say fun?] New Collar careers utilizing disruptive technologies like 3D Printing, laser machining, robotics, VR, and AI/machine learning.
As a co-founder of Potomac Photonics, Inc., Baltimore MD, which invented and manufactured the laser for LASIK eye surgery as well as laser machine tools for micro-manufacturing, she was one of the leading women in a male-dominated industry. After the sale of Potomac, she consulted for the MIT Fab Lab Network, based at the storied MIT Media Lab, where design, innovation, technology, and art converge to impact humanity.
Sarah founded Fab Lab Hub, LLC at the Santa Fe Business Incubator in Santa Fe, NM in 2017 to provide advanced manufacturing contract services, as well as develop workforce training programs. In 2017 Sarah interviewed 200 manufacturing companies to define the digital skills manufacturing operators and technicians need today. The resulting book published by Photonics Media Press, The New Collar Workforce, documents the study and her second book, People of the New Collar Workforce, uses Augmented Reality to bring worker stories to life via embedded video links.
In collaboration with America Makes, the national 3D printing institute, she recently developed a digital badge micro-certification program for 3D Printing technicians. The badges are issued by the New Collar Network, an MIT Fab Lab organization, that she co-founded. From 2018 – 2020 Sarah consulted for the National Governors Association “Future Workforce Now” project to develop a workforce policy toolkit for States. Fab Lab Hub was also granted an additive manufacturing registered apprenticeship by the US Dept. of Labor in 2020.
In collaboration with Santa Fe Community College, Sarah founded the New Collar Innovation Center at the Santa Fe Higher Education Center in 2021 to foster innovation in lifelong learning, New Collar workforce training, and the creation of 21st century startups.
Sarah is a Fellow and Past President of the Laser Institute of America, an Ambassador of America Makes, serves on the New Mexico Bio-science Authority Board of Directors, founded the New Mexico chapter of the international Women in 3D Printing non-profit, is on the NM Tech Council Board of Directors, has served on the Optical Society of America’s Industry Advisory Board as well as the Boards of numerous international technical societies. She is a frequent media guest, most recently for BBC Radio, and has been quoted in many technical publications as well as in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, the Albuquerque Journal, and the Santa Fe New Mexican.
This talk was presented on November 3, 2021 as part of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s Mornings with O’Keeffe series.
