Training
for an Advanced Manufacturing Career

You can begin training for manufacturing careers in high school and potentially continue through graduate school.

High School

Pre-Engineering Academies – Offered at 15 CareerTech centers and other sites, these academies expose high school students to advanced placement physics and calculus and to engineering concepts and principles. 

The Craftsmanship Apprenticeship Programs are a partnership between Tulsa area manufacturing companies, Tulsa Technology Center and other local schools. Beginning in the third year of high school, these three-year, work-based learning programs are an option with many advanced manufacturing courses at Tulsa Technology Center. Programs may offer paid summer apprenticeships, industry-based work with a trained mentor, and professional workshops.

Southeast High School for Technology in Oklahoma City is expanding its Southeast Academy of Manufacturing program to 11th- and 12th-grade as well as 9th and 10th grades.

High School and Adult

Whether you're in high school or beyond, you can find specific manufacturing programs at local CareerTech centers across the state. Programs include:

• Precision Machining – Learn to set up and operate machinery to make or repair metal parts. Covers machine operation, blueprint reading, computer-aided drafting and other skills.
• Drafting and CADD – Develop basic skills and go on to specialty areas like architecture, electronics, structural and other fields.
• Industrial Technology – Get ready to install, maintain and repair various electrical, mechanical, electronic and fluid power devices in a manufacturing environment.
• Sheet Metal Fabrication – Learn to read blueprints, lay out patterns, weld, cut, shape and join sheet metal.
• Welding – Theory and practice of oxy-fuel gas cutting and welding, brazing, arc welding, shop math, codes and specifications and specialized methods.

In a class by itself is the Advanced Manufacturing program at Francis Tuttle Technology Center in Oklahoma City. Students study a broad range of manufacturing skills, including automated manufacturing, precision machining, instrumentation and control, and welding. They earn certifications in mechanical maintenance technology, electrical maintenance technology and other specialties, and they can earn an applied science degree from Oklahoma City Community College at the same time.

Private Trade Schools

At least four private schools offer welding and other manufacturing skills and technology programs in Oklahoma. To search for other specific skills, click "Training Providers" at Oklahoma Job Link.

• Four M Welding School, Tulsa, welding
• ITT Technical Institute, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Computer and Electronics Engineering Technology
• Tulsa Welding School, Tulsa, welding

• Vatterott College, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Electrical Mechanic

Colleges and Universities

Many colleges and universities, including community colleges, across Oklahoma offer programs in engineering, industrial technology, quality control technology and other manufacturing disciplines. Just at the state's largest public universities, you'll find:

• Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City, Industrial Drafting and Design.
• OSU Institute of Technology, Okmulgee, Manufacturing Technology, Nano Scientific Instrumentation.
• Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, School of Industrial Engineering & Management, Advanced Manufacturing Processes & Materials in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
• University of Oklahoma, Norman, School of Industrial Engineering