Helping Massachusetts Manufacturers Succeed

In the heyday of the Industrial Revolution, Massachusetts was known as a hub for manufacturing innovators, including a group of entrepreneurs who founded the Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science (now known, of course, as WPI). As the director of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM) at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Christine Nolan ’88 is helping the next generation of innovators recapture that magic, connecting the state’s 7,000 manufacturers with funding and resources needed to stay competitive and create jobs.

“This really is my dream job. It marries both worlds—my manufacturing background as well as my community engagement background,” she says. “I’m inspired by manufacturers’ passion for creating things, solving problems, and working through tough challenges. My job is to ask, ‘How can I use the resources available at the state level to help them succeed?’”

The ability to bring people together, both formally and informally, is one of Nolan’s superpowers. In her 10 years at the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, she built communities of interest in the tech industry, whether executive level peer groups or technology clusters such as robotics, cybersecurity, or big data (all before the time of AI). The communities built, strengthened, and encouraged regional collaboration.

In 2012, she co-founded Boston Tech Jam, a fun event to celebrate the successes of the industry that attracted as many as 8,000 participants to Boston’s City Hall Plaza; three years ago she launched the Mass Manufacturing Mash-Up, a similar networking event at Worcester’s Polar Park that has been so successful it will move to Gillette Stadium in September to increase capacity.

CAM, which she has directed for the past three and a half years, has been an integral force in the formation of a 170-member regional consortium to reshore and expand the country’s global leadership in microelectronics. To date, the consortium has received a $19.7 million award from the Department of Defense to leverage the region’s strengths in the areas of quantum computing, AI hardware, Secure Edge/Internet of Things, 5G/6G, electromagnetic warfare, and commercial leap-ahead technologies. 

“Seeing this consortium come together from across academia, industry, and multiple state governments has been very impressive,” she says, noting that WPI played a leading role in the effort. Connecting large defense manufacturers, like Raytheon, with the state’s smaller start-ups creates synergies that enhance competitiveness across the entire manufacturing ecosystem.

Nolan says her love of math, science, and hands-on learning made WPI a good fit. Although women made up only 20 percent of her class, she knew succeeding in that environment would help her feel comfortable in an engineering profession also dominated by men. The lesson she shares with her two daughters: “You always want to make sure you have a voice, and you’re confident in using your voice.”

In addition to meeting her husband, Steve Nolan ’87, at WPI, she befriended and has stayed close to a group of women who have taken different career paths since graduation: a CEO of a local manufacturing company, a designer of jet engines, a civil engineering consultant, and multiple math teachers. “We’ve formed a support system for each other throughout our careers, and I’m proud of what we’ve all accomplished,” she says.

Nolan’s particularly grateful to the legendary professor and dean of academic advising van A (John van Alstyne), who helped her navigate the occasional academic headwinds. “The amount of coaching and time he spent with me to get me through some of those calculus classes was darn impressive,” she says.

CAM is focused on helping to scale advanced manufacturing, from innovation through production. The Center helps early-stage companies commercialize next generation technologies, helps the supply chain with grants and resources to scale and adopt the latest technologies, and assists with a talent pipeline.

The Center’s M2I2 (Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative) program has funded some 90 projects (including some at WPI) to help develop critical technologies, from flexible hybrid electronics to functional fabrics, robotics, additive manufacturing, and photonics. A second capital grant program, MMAP (Massachusetts Manufacturing Accelerate Program), addresses a common pain point with smaller manufacturers: how to acquire the latest (usually expensive) equipment to stay competitive.

“Manufacturers are busy, heads-down people, not often taking the time to learn about resources available to them,” Nolan says. Once the capital project grant program engages them, manufacturers tend to discover other helpful resources such as the MassHire system to help with hiring needs and the nonprofit MassMEP (Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership) to help them with growth initiatives or funding to help them with the adoption of new cybersecurity standards.

The Center works across the educational continuum, from K-12 to adult education and community colleges, to assist. Because vocational schools are often oversubscribed, the Center works closely with approximately 60 Innovation Pathway high schools that offer industry-driven programming and provide direct routes to careers.

Nolan says the next challenge for the Center is helping manufacturers in their digital transformation. “It’s hard for manufacturers to find the time and resources to adopt this,” she says. “The challenge for us is to try to help them figure it out.”