Universal Technical Resource Services, Inc. (UTRS) continues to promote high-tech careers at the ground level.
Students from Morris Knolls High School in Denville, NJ recently toured the Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in an event hosted by UTRS and the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center’s (DEVCOM AC) STEM office.
Across several buildings on base, U.S. Army and U.S. Navy experts explained the Arsenal’s work and presented students with Self-Propelled Howitzers and M1 Abrams Tanks, the Simulated Weapons Environment Testbed (SWeET), the Manufacturing & Prototyping Technology Facility, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division Picatinny Detachment’s Gun Turret Facility.
In this photo, while Nick Loewrigkeit, UTRS Program Manager, Prototype Manufacturing looks on, Branch Chief Frank Petrosillo describes manufacturing processes and explains equipment used to prototype armament hardware. (U.S. Army photo by Todd Mozes).
By exposing students to high-tech environments and sparking their interest in manufacturing or engineering careers, they are more likely to work with a company like UTRS or for the military following graduation.
As skilled manufacturing workers are increasingly difficult to find, UTRS is looking to these types of workforce development efforts as part of an overall strategy to remain highly competitive. For example, several students who previously completed the tour became interns at UTRS Advanced Manufacturing and then went on to accept full-time positions. Those same students helped host part of the tour this year.
“We are extremely grateful for the Morris Knolls School administration for allowing us to be a part of the process as the young adults prepare to further their education in the Engineering and Manufacturing fields,” said Lisa Marie Agolio, an Operations Assistant with UTRS.
Picatinny Arsenal is home to DEVCOM AC, one of the Army’s premier research and development facilities which employs thousands of workers in technical fields.
The partnership between UTRS, DEVCOM AC, and the Morris Knolls High Scholl Engineering Department started in 2021.
The Army also highlighted the tour on its website.