By Heather Keller
A regional partnership that includes NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility aims to build a pipeline for future aerospace workers.
On March 31, local, state, federal, and agency leaders gathered at Michoud to officially launch the Greater New Orleans Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (GNO RAMP), a workforce development program.
The partnership, led by Greater New Orleans Inc., is a coalition that includes the U.S. government, private industry, higher education, and training groups, as well as philanthropic organizations. The program supports initiatives from the National Space Council and Vice President Kamala Harris, which promotes aerospace STEM efforts to inspire, prepare, and employ future aerospace workers.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy attended the event and spoke to the coalition, thanking them for their commitment and emphasizing how the partnership will benefit the aerospace industry. Her visit – and the launch of the development program – comes as NASA and Boeing, the SLS core stage lead contractor, continue to make progress building core stages for future Space Launch System (SLS) rockets at Michoud. All the core stagesthat help power the SLS rocket are built and assembled at Michoud, including the Artemis II mission. Teams are also working on the Exploration Upper Stage, a more powerful in-space stage that will enable SLS to deliver heavier cargos to deep space beginning with Artemis IV.
“Look at the NASA mission: we don’t get anything done without our skilled workforce,” Melroy said. “What we have here is a pilot that is then a playbook that we can replicate throughout the country. So that is the significance of the work that you’re doing, the things that you do are actually going to impact the success of the Artemis program, and feel free to use Artemis to inspire that next generation.”
GNO RAMP is one of only three pilot programs of its kind throughout the country, according to Dr. Quincy Brown, National Space Council director of Space STEM and Workforce Policy. “We do recognize that the need for a skilled, trained workforce exists across the country – throughout the industry,” Brown said. “We want people to be on the path, but we want there to be an actual job at the end of that path.”
Following the initial welcomes, GNO RAMP partners participated in a roundtable discussion where industry and education professionals expressed areas of need within the workforce and potential opportunities in STEM education. The dialogue included ways to reach out to students at both middle and high school levels to help them understand the potential opportunities available, and how to connect them to industry.
GNO RAMP is “essentially a sectoral partnership here in the region that is bringing all the folks together and focusing on industry-driven ecosystem supported and targeted actions to develop our workforce here in the region,” said Josh Tatum, director of Strategic Initiatives for GNO.
GNO RAMP is the culmination of a growing relationship between Michoud, GNO, the Louisiana Board of Regents, and higher education, which has spent recent years workshopping ideas on creating a sustainable, skilled workforce. “We’re proud to be a part of an initiative that will strengthen the home-grown talent pool here in New Orleans and throughout the region for years to come,” said Michoud Director Lionel Dutreix. “This partnership embodies Michoud’s commitment to our community and STEM outreach efforts.”
The group closed out the day with a tour of Michoud’s rocket factory, where attendees saw real-time examples of advanced manufacturing opportunities available to the future workforce, including the nearly completed core stage for Artemis II.
Keller, a Manufacturing Technical Solutions Inc. employee, supports Michoud Assembly Facility.