Ohio is at the center of America's industrial resurgence.
Anduril is building Arsenal-1, a massive defense manufacturing hub.
Oklo is developing a nuclear power campus in Southern Ohio to fuel Meta's AI supercluster near Columbus.
Joby Aviation is doubling its electric aircraft manufacturing capacity in Dayton by 2027.
What are these companies buying? Workforce.
But building a workforce for the future of American industry can be like turning around an aircraft carrier. That was the framing by The Ohio State University’s President, Admiral Ted Carter, during a Future of Manufacturing panel convened by JobsOhio at CES earlier this month.
Fortunately, Carter knows a thing or two about turning around aircraft carriers. He commanded one.
"If you know what you're doing, you can reverse the propellers, put the rudder full over, and turn an aircraft carrier around in less than a minute and a half."
Carter’s incredible resume:
Top Gun graduate who holds the national record for landings on an aircraft carrier — over 2,000.
Commanded the USS Carl Vinson – a 1,100 foot-long, 100,000 ton, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
Served as the U.S. Naval Academy's longest continuously-serving superintendent since the Civil War.
One of just 110 recipients of the Academy's Distinguished Graduate Award – a group that includes Jimmy Carter and John McCain.
Led the University of Nebraska System before taking the helm at Ohio State.
He's under no illusions about higher education's reputation.
"Let's face it, higher ed is not known for pivoting to the dynamic needs of the workforce," Carter said.
The stakes: 70% of the jobs that will exist in 10 years don't exist today, Carter said.
"If we're not preparing this next generation of leaders, people that are going to be doing these jobs, to be ready – then we're not doing our job."
The pivot: Ohio State’s 67,000 students, 8,500 faculty, 20,000 staff are now required to be AI-fluent in their discipline.
"Nobody else in the country is taking this comprehensive approach," Carter said.
"The criticism that's often made is you're just teaching kids how to use ChatGPT, and you're gonna dumb down education.”
"I want you to hear from me: We're doing the opposite of that. This is how to use every tool – whether you're in arts, medicine, engineering, computer science, or manufacturing."
Another workforce asset Carter cites: Ohio State’s Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence, where students learn to build things before they graduate.
Its mission: advance the manufacturing competitiveness of the United States.
How it works: The 45,000-square-foot facility houses $20 million in industrial equipment and has partnered with more than 150 companies on over 900 real engineering projects.
"Our students aren't graduating so they can get onboarded somewhere," Carter said. "They're actually just getting a promotion back to the jobs they've already interned at."
The bottom line: More than 70% of Ohio State undergraduates stay in the state after graduation, Carter said – higher than most public land-grant universities, but he wants that number to climb.
"We're working on improving that through a significant internship program where every single student will get an internship within the state," Carter said, "to show them what's available."
"That's how I'm viewing what higher education needs to be doing today."
The aircraft carrier can turn.
