Half a Decade of Impact: ACE’s Growth

Dec. 8, 2025 – It all started at a kitchen counter in 2020.

Dr. Tony Schmitz was preparing something that would balloon into a nationwide initiative: the first online CNC machining course for the America’s Cutting Edge program.

The rollout began on Dec. 7, 2020. Like a snowball rolling downhill, the results have turned into an avalanche.

ACE’s Early Years

In the summer of 2021, ACE began offering in-person, bootcamp-style training opportunities to bridge the gap from online learning to hands-on application.

Pellissippi State Community College (PSCC) in Knoxville, TN, was an early testbed site for these training opportunities.

PSCC continues to provide ACE training to a wide variety of participants today. Andy Polnicki, ACE program coordinator at PSCC, notes that the impact has had far reach.

“Youth participants progress through a clear pipeline, starting with camps, continuing as students, and ultimately entering the workforce,” he said.

“And local companies utilize our classes to upskill their staff and enhance their confidence in their equipment investments. Witnessing this level of alignment between industry needs and student success has been incredibly rewarding.”

That same success has been found at Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), which became a partner in 2022.

Although they began as the lone Texas site in College Station, they’ve grown to be the largest hub-and-spoke network within ACE, with around a dozen sites connected to them.

With the size and strength of the TEES network, over 1,100 bootcamp participants have been trained in Texas.

Those participants include Macrae Alford, who came to ACE with no CNC experience and later got hired and became a CNC operator; as well as Julio Gutierrez, whose ACE experience at Mayday Manufacturing leveled up his career – and his pay.

“TEES is deeply grateful to the Department of War and IACMI whose support has empowered more than 1,100 Texans to gain essential CNC machining skills to build life-changing careers through a robust hub and spoke network in Texas,” said John Peterson, ACE program coordinator at TEES.

“Their commitment to TEES and our regional training partners has helped us close critical skill gaps, strengthen key defense industrial partnerships, and secure a more competitive, resilient workforce for the future.”

Exponential Growth Begins

In 2023, ACE started experiencing a serious momentum shift.

Through the end of 2022, just over 3,800 people had registered for an online course. In 2023 alone, 3,800 more people did the same – doubling registrations within the year.

Similarly, under 300 people had participated in a bootcamp heading into 2023. By the end of the year, that tally was nearly 1,000.

St. Cloud State University (SCSU) inked its partnership with ACE that summer and began work to refurbish a 56-foot-long trailer designed to become a mobile machining classroom.

It would later become everything needed to run the ACE program remotely from places like a company parking lot. In fact, Coldspring – a fabricator of granite products – has done just that, sending three cohorts through training on the trailer to date.

“There’s a bunch of different benefits to having the trailer come right to our site,” said Josh Reitmeier, Coldspring director of operations. “Employees don’t have to go to some place they’ve never been. It becomes very convenient for them. This feels like something everybody could benefit from.”

Kurt Helgeson, ACE program coordinator at SCSU, adds that high school teacher training has also been a force multiplier in Minnesota.

The formula is simple: Teachers get trained at SCSU, then they train their classes of students.

“ACE has allowed us to expand on our Technology, Engineering and Careers Network, which brings industry standard equipment to schools,” he said. “We have three Haas mills that we’ve made portable to take to schools which don’t have the CNC capacity due to cost or space.”

Through the effort, over 30 teachers have been ACE-trained, impacting over 125 high school students.

‘A Culture Shift’

While most ACE partner sites provide training to a consistent, steady amount of people, few have hit the ground running quite like Mississippi State University (MSU).

Despite being a newer ACE partner site – having started in 2024 – they’ve already trained over 350 people.

That’s the second-most in a network of over three dozen sites.

“When Mississippi State joined the ACE program in 2024, we made a deliberate decision that this wouldn’t just be another training offering. It would be a culture shift,” said Ross Smith, ACE program coordinator.

“Once students realize they can walk into a lab, run a CNC machine, program toolpaths, or complete a composite layup on their own, they start to see themselves as engineers and technicians, not just students,” he added. “That’s powerful.”

An additional hallmark of MSU’s success has been their approach to Mississippi manufacturers.

Those conversations have led directly to several industry-focused bootcamps, featuring folks from bigger companies like Milwaukee Tool, to smaller, local companies like Taylor Machine Works.

“Working with industry has been phenomenal. Mississippi manufacturers, from aerospace to heavy equipment, have been eager to engage because they feel the workforce pressure every day,” Ross added.

“ACE gives them a direct pipeline of talent that is already trained on the equipment they use, and it gives them confidence that Mississippi has a statewide strategy for manufacturing excellence. We’ve had industry professionals come in for training, send their teams to our bootcamps, and collaborate with us on real production challenges. That feedback loop keeps ACE relevant and immediately applicable.”

Like SCSU and Coldspring, the companies MSU is working with have plans to come back for more.

Beyond CNC Machining

We arrive to Dec. 7, 2025 – ACE’s fifth birthday.

Over 40 sites have joined the ACE network.

Nearly 20,000 people have registered for an online course.

And over 5,000 have done an in-person bootcamp.

While the numbers make this birthday special, they’re only part of the reason this fifth rotation around the sun makes for a banner year.

Entering 2025, all ACE partner sites have been focused on ACE’s trademark CNC machining courses for their bootcamp offerings.

That changed this summer.

Winona State University (WSU) joined the ACE network this year as the first ACE Composites hub. They’re running bootcamps to introduce participants to composites products and processes relevant to the automotive industry.

The curriculum follows content found in the ACE Composites in Automotive online course.

“I am grateful to have been a part of pioneering this work,” said Eric Kerr-Anderson, ACE program coordinator at WSU. “The ability to craft a curriculum geared at a week-long exposure to thermoplastic and thermoset manufacturing techniques for the ACE program has helped me ensure there are educational opportunities for composite manufacturing available to anyone that’s interested.”

For Andy Pokelwaldt, IACMI’s director of workforce and education, it’s a natural step in the right direction as ACE meets the call to revitalize the domestic manufacturing workforce.

“I see the future continuing to build on successful ACE training outcomes,” Andy said. “With increased demand for positive training results, ACE is positioned to meet more U.S. industry technical areas of delivery with increased partners being involved in meeting that demand nationwide.”

A Moment of Gratitude

Although the numbers are great, it’s the stories of those impacted that make ACE what it is.

Whether it’s Joshua Britt, a North Carolina father who both leveled up his career and showed his son what manufacturing looks like, or Ashley Egenti, whose ACE experience helped her start her career at Lockheed Martin, it’s their journeys – among the many other ACE participants – that have defined this growth as a real success.

It’s not just about numbers on paper.

It’s about lives changed.

Dave Roberson, ACE’s instructor trainer, perfectly sums it up on behalf of the ACE team. “This is the breath of fresh air the machining industry has needed. I couldn’t be happier to be a part of ACE.”

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