Jim Mitchell, one of The Manufacturing Collaborative’s first student technicians, shares his journey from the Marine Corps to finding a passion for additive manufacturing. 

Did you have an interest in manufacturing in school?

I grew up in Vermont and graduated from high school in 2012. Like a lot of people, I didn’t really know what career path I wanted to take. I started at UVM in their mechanical engineering program. I spent a lot of time in enormous auditoriums listening to a lecture and I remember trying not to fall asleep through it. A large university just wasn’t the right fit for me at that time. I ended up leaving school and I joined the Marine Corps as infantry. 

That’s a big change, how did this experience change your thinking about a career?

I would say that’s where I started becoming interested in manufacturing, but I didn’t know what to call it quite at that point.

You see, the Marines is the lowest funded branch. Our stuff was always breaking. We had hand-me-downs from the Army and we had to constantly fix things on the fly. These are critical pieces of equipment for the guys on the ground, so I became more and more curious about how it was all made. 

When you left the Marines, how did you approach your next step?

I came back from the Marines and wanted to go to college. I found Vermont Tech (now Vermont State University) and their manufacturing engineering program. I wanted to be in the lab, really working on things. Having the coursework with high level knowledge plus some hands-on work is exactly what I wanted. 

How did you get connected with The Manufacturing Collaborative?

The Collaborative was just getting started my freshman year, and one of my teachers, John Kidder, mentioned that they were looking for students to work at the advanced manufacturing center part-time. He must have said something to Barry Hulce [The Manufacturing Collaborative’s executive director], because sophomore year, Barry came and found me on campus. “Hey, are you Jim?” 

We talked about my background and my interests and where I saw myself going. Working as a technician in the manufacturing center, I would be doing stuff outside of my courses that put the things I was learning to practical use, I’d get paid for it, and I’d get to work with companies on real projects.

Was there an additive project you worked that stuck out?

One of the real success stories was with a propeller. A company had a two-prop propeller that was broken and no longer in production. One side was just gone. It was designed back in the 70s and there were no drawings for it.

We 3D scanned it and then mirrored the side that was intact. We were able to print it and it was ready to go. You couldn’t have done that before these advanced tools. You’d just have to take your best guess at the angles and shape of the missing piece and kind of fudge it. 

How did this work turn into a job?

I started talking to some of the companies that we worked with through the Collaborative, and General Dynamics was one of them.

Half of what you do is about your technical knowledge, but no one tells you about the importance of the people side of things. I was working on real projects with people. I got to know them and their company, they got to know me. It showed me what I could be doing after graduation.

General Dynamics has a number of divisions, including General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. I applied for an internship and I came out for the summer and fell in love with the area. I received a full-time offer at the end of that internship my senior year and here I am. 

What’s your current role?

I landed in the Advanced Concepts Engineering Group. Our group is small, there are about 6 of us. We’re developing the pipeline of new technology that could be used in shipbuilding. Our job is to go around and find things that are in a developmental range and see if we can put on proofs of concept. There’s an element of freedom and exploration in the group, which is great.

How have the skills you developed transferred?

Metal additive is something we’re evaluating at the company and having real project experience in that area has been invaluable. 

I talked to my boss and he told me that back when he was going through hundreds of resumes for internships, he came upon mine and it said, “metal 3D printing.” My boss stopped and said, “I want him.”

How do you view The Manufacturing Collaborative now that you’re in the industry?

When I was at school and working in the center, I knew the team was working to build connections across companies and experts, but I didn’t appreciate the importance then. 

Coming out of COVID, I think we, as a broader industry, were kind of caught with our pants down. The supply chain is struggling and we see that we need to come together and establish these networks. People working together are always going to have better ideas, more success, than trying to go it alone.

That’s why the Collaborative is so important. It’s all about working to strengthen those connections across the industry instead of just competition. The mission of the Collaborative is more relevant to me now than before.