Clemson to create online training

Clemson University will use a $2.3 million federal grant to develop new online training tools for factory-floor workers in two of South Carolina's most promising industries: aviation and automobile.

The high-tech project will be developed by Clemson engineers and will be used to enhance existing workforce programs already offered by state-run technical colleges in the Lowcountry, the Pee Dee and the Upstate.

The partnerships was announced Wednesday.

The university expects to showcase the first of the three-dimensional modules next summer.

The goal is to help make South Carolina more competitive for future jobs within the automotive and aviation industries -- two bright spots for the state's economy, said Clemson President James Barker.

"The ... needs of the knowledge economy are not only the jobs for engineers, designers and specialist with advanced degrees," Barker said Wednesday. "They are also the manufacturing jobs that require a highly specialized technical education."

He described as "a myth" the perception that manufacturing is disappearing in South Carolina, pointing to the Boeing aircraft plant in North Charleston and the BMW car factory in Greer, among other examples.

"South Carolinians are right now building cars, tires, engines, turbines and jets for the world market," Barker said.

David Brown, human resources director at the Robert Bosch LLC auto-parts plant on Dorchester Road, said he thinks the new training program will be helpful as his employer looks to fill 300 positions over the next four years as part of a $125 million expansion.

"Many of theses jobs are the type of jobs we're talking about here today," Brown said

Barker said the three other schools, including Trident Technical College, will serve as a vital link in the Clemson University Center for Workforce Development because of the large numbers of local residents they can reach.

A National Science Foundation grant is launching the program. The other participating schools are Greenville Technical College and Florence- Darlington Technical College.

The biggest expense will be the upfront cost of creating the training modules, Barker said.

"But once you have them, you sort of have them. The idea of maintaining them or updating them over a period of time is much less expensive than developing them from scratch," he said.

The program could be replicated in the future for other industries, Barker added.