Digital Fabrication

Regional employers are expanding their capacity for the field now known as Advanced Manufacturing or Digital Fabrication. The recent report, “The Skills Gap in U.S. Manufacturing 2015 and Beyond” projects that, “Over the next decade, nearly three and a half million manufacturing jobs will likely need to be filled, and the skills gap is expected to result in two million of those jobs going unfilled.” Montana employment projects suggest that the need for individuals with the high-tech skills needed for digital fabrication will continue to expand both on the Reservation and in the rest of Montana. 

Students completing the Digital Fabrication Workforce Certification will be able to:

• Exhibit entry-level skills in SolidWorks 3D modeling software.

• Utilize variety of software tools to create, modify, adapt, and prepare files for usage on digital fabrication tools including 3D printers, laser cutter/engravers, and CNC routers.

• Safely produce objects using a 3D printer, a laser cutter/engraver, and a CNC router.

• Evaluate various digital-fabrication technologies, techniques, and materials to select the appropriate technology or combination of technologies to produce a given object or solve a particular problem.