When thousands of students arrive at Chicago’s McCormick Place for the Smartforce Student Summit at IMTS 2026, the most visible outcome will be career exploration. Students will encounter industrial robots, CNC machinery, additive manufacturing, automation, metrology, software, and other technologies that are difficult to replicate inside most school laboratories.
For educators and administrators, however, the greater opportunity lies beneath the spectacle.
The summit can serve as a large-scale curriculum audit: a chance to compare what schools teach with what manufacturers are deploying, identify competencies that are missing from existing programs, examine new career pathways, and begin conversations with the employers and organizations that can help close those gaps. Schools evaluating the future of STEM education will find IMTS especially valuable because it brings many of the technologies reshaping technical education together in one place.
The Smartforce Student Summit will run Sept. 14–19 in the North Building of McCormick Place. More than 60 organizations are expected to participate across approximately 25,000 square feet of interactive exhibits. Registered students and educators will also have access to IMTS’ four main exhibition halls, encompassing more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing technology. Admission is free for eligible students, educators, administrators, and chaperones.
Those numbers make the summit significant. What educators do with the experience after returning home will determine whether it becomes transformative.
Key Takeaways
- The Smartforce Student Summit should be planned as a curriculum-benchmarking exercise, not simply a career-exploration trip.
- Educators can use IMTS to identify emerging skills, equipment, credentials, occupations, and employer expectations.
- Manufacturing careers increasingly connect mechanical systems with automation, data, software, inspection, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
- Students should arrive with structured questions and leave with evidence they can connect to courses, credentials, and career plans.
- Administrators should use the event to identify potential advisory-board members, equipment partners, internship providers, and professional-development opportunities.
What Is Happening at the Smartforce Student Summit?
The 2026 summit will bring together manufacturing technology companies, colleges, universities, workforce organizations, nonprofits, and education partners. Exhibits will cover areas such as robotics, automation, CNC machining, welding, digital manufacturing, precision measurement, metrology, additive manufacturing, and related STEM careers. Educators expanding robotics instruction may also benefit from TechEd Magazine’s coverage of national certifications for robotics and advanced automation and the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute, both of which examine how education can align robotics training with workforce needs.
The scale has grown considerably. The 2024 summit recorded 14,713 students, faculty members, and staff. More than 5,000 attendees came from over 500 colleges and universities, while more than 9,000 represented over 400 K–12 schools and community groups. Organizers have projected more than 16,000 participants for 2026.
A notable addition is Smartforce Career Pathways. Participating IMTS exhibitors will be able to display entry-level positions, internships, apprenticeships, and early-career roles on digital boards inside the summit. Students will be able to scan QR codes and move from a demonstration or employer conversation to information about an actual employment opportunity.
That feature matters because it begins to connect three elements that schools often present separately: technology, competencies, and employment.
A student may see a collaborative robot, for example, but the more useful questions are who installs it, who programs it, who designs its tooling, who integrates it with other machines, who analyzes its production data, who maintains it, and what education or credentials those roles require.
Why the Timing Matters
The manufacturing workforce challenge is often described simply as a shortage of workers. The evidence points to a more complicated problem.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted more than 12.8 million manufacturing workers in 2024. Although total manufacturing employment is projected to change little between 2024 and 2034, BLS projects nearly 1 million openings in production occupations each year, largely because workers will retire, transfer to other occupations, or otherwise leave their positions.
Industry research conducted by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute reached a related conclusion from a different direction. It estimated that manufacturers could require as many as 3.8 million additional employees between 2024 and 2033 and warned that 1.9 million positions could remain unfilled if talent and skills challenges are not addressed. TechEd Magazine has previously examined how demographic shifts, technological change, and evolving skill requirements are reshaping America’s advanced manufacturing workforce, making curriculum alignment more important than ever.
The apparent tension between relatively flat total employment and a high number of openings is important. Schools are not preparing students for a single wave of newly created jobs. They are preparing students for a continuing cycle of replacement, technological change, occupational restructuring, and increasingly specialized work.
The employment opportunities also extend well beyond conventional production positions. BLS projects that manufacturing will add approximately 41,200 industrial machinery mechanics, 25,600 industrial engineers, 11,800 software developers, and 11,000 mechanical engineers from 2024 to 2034. Manufacturing is expected to employ people entering with high school diplomas, apprenticeships, associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, and advanced technical credentials.
Automation does not eliminate the need for technical education. It changes where that education must lead.
Industrial machinery mechanics, machinery maintenance workers, and millwrights are projected to experience 13% employment growth from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations. BLS specifically connects that demand to the adoption of automated machinery that must be installed, monitored, maintained, and repaired.
Statistics Callout
- Nearly 1 million: Average annual openings projected in production occupations from 2024 through 2034.
- 41,200: New industrial machinery mechanic positions projected within manufacturing.
- 14,713: Students, faculty, and staff who attended the 2024 Smartforce Student Summit.
- 60-plus: Organizations expected to participate in the 2026 summit.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and IMTS.
The Skills Are Changing Faster Than Many Course Titles
One of the most useful documents for educators preparing for IMTS was released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in June 2026.
The Manufacturing USA Occupation and Competency Framework identified 132 advanced manufacturing occupations and connected them to 235 knowledge, skill, and ability statements across biomanufacturing, digital and automated manufacturing, electronics, energy and process industries, and materials. The framework was designed to create a common language among employers, training providers, workers, and workforce organizations.
Among the recurring capabilities identified were data collection and analysis, CAD and CAM, production and process monitoring, precision measurement, technical drawings, automated systems, testing, and troubleshooting. NIST concluded that many of these competencies are transferable across occupations and technology sectors rather than belonging to one narrowly defined job. Many also appear in nationally recognized robotics and advanced automation certification pathways, reinforcing the importance of teaching transferable technical skills rather than focusing solely on individual machines or software platforms.
That finding should shape how educators approach IMTS.
A school should not evaluate a robotic cell only by asking whether it can afford that particular robot. Its team should examine the collection of competencies represented by the cell:
- Mechanical assembly
- Electrical and electronic systems
- Robot programming
- Sensors and machine vision
- PLCs and industrial controls
- Safety systems
- Data collection
- Quality verification
- Preventive maintenance
- Fault diagnosis
- Process documentation
- Communication and teamwork
A program may already teach several of these capabilities but distribute them across courses that rarely interact. The exhibit floor provides an opportunity to see how industry combines them into a functioning production system.
“The Summit is a unique opportunity for students and educators to collaborate not only with educational representatives from the manufacturing industry but also with the actual industry itself.”
— Lindsay Cline, Vice President of Education Business Development, Phillips Corporation (Source)
How to Turn the Exhibit Floor Into a Curriculum Audit
Walking through a large technology show without a plan can produce excitement but little usable evidence. Educators should organize their visit around specific curriculum questions.
What attendees observe What educators should examine Evidence to collect
- Robotics and automation Whether students integrate, program, operate, and troubleshoot complete systems Required skills, software, safety practices, entry-level roles
- CNC and precision machining Whether instruction connects design, programming, setup, inspection, and process improvement Machine capabilities, CAD/CAM workflow, tolerances, credentials
- Metrology and quality Whether measurement is treated as a core production skill Inspection methods, data requirements, documentation practices
- Additive manufacturing Whether students understand production applications, materials, limitations, and post-processing Use cases, material requirements, design considerations
- Digital manufacturing Whether students work with production data and connected systems Platforms, data skills, cybersecurity expectations
- Maintenance technology Whether programs teach systematic troubleshooting and reliability Diagnostic processes, preventive maintenance skills, occupations
- Career information Whether courses and credentials align with actual entry-level opportunities Job titles, education requirements, wages, internships
Before the Visit
Educators should identify three to five program questions before selecting exhibits. A machining program might investigate five-axis instruction, digital inspection, automated workholding, or CAM software. Schools with existing machining programs can compare what they observe at IMTS with current approaches to machining and CNC optimization training being adopted throughout industry. A mechatronics program might focus on machine vision, industrial networking, predictive maintenance, safety, or systems integration.
Students should also receive defined assignments. Instead of asking them to report on their favorite exhibit, instructors can require each student to document one technology, one problem it solves, three associated competencies, one related occupation, and one question the demonstration raised.
IMTS provides sample itineraries organized around robotics and smart manufacturing, precision machining and quality, and college or research pathways. The event also provides justification-letter templates for elementary, middle school, high school, community college, and university groups.
During the Visit
Every student team should collect the same basic information:
- What production problem does this technology address?
- What must a worker know to operate or support it?
- What failures or errors must that worker be able to diagnose?
- What software, measurement tools, or data are involved?
- Which occupations work with the system?
- What education, experience, or credentials does the exhibitor seek?
Could the company support a classroom, advisory board, internship, job shadow, or instructor externship?
This method shifts students from passive observers to technical investigators.
Educators should conduct a parallel investigation. They should ask exhibitors which entry-level capabilities are most often missing, which technologies are becoming easier for smaller manufacturers to adopt, and where schools tend to overestimate or underestimate workplace readiness.
After the Visit
The trip should conclude with a structured curriculum review rather than a slideshow of photographs.
Faculty can map the competencies they documented against existing courses and determine whether each is introduced, practiced, assessed, and applied in an integrated project. Skills that appear repeatedly across employers and exhibits should receive particular attention.
The team can then separate its findings into four categories:
- Changes that can be made immediately through revised assignments
- Instructor professional-development needs
- Equipment or software priorities
- Partnership, credential, and work-based learning opportunities
- This produces a practical improvement agenda instead of an unfunded wish list.
Free Download: IMTS 2026 Curriculum Audit Toolkit
Planning to attend the IMTS 2026 Smartforce Student Summit? TechEd Magazine created a free toolkit to help instructors, administrators, and advisory teams capture meaningful information during the event and turn those observations into curriculum improvements.
The toolkit includes:
- Printable Curriculum Audit Worksheet (PDF)
- Fillable Digital PDF
- Editable Microsoft Word Version
- Team Planning & Tracking Spreadsheet (Excel)
Use it to:
- Evaluate emerging manufacturing technologies
- Identify curriculum gaps
- Record employer contacts
- Develop advisory board partnerships
- Prioritize equipment and software investments
- Create an actionable post-IMTS implementation plan
Download the free IMTS 2026 Curriculum Audit Toolkit
If you’re attending IMTS 2026…
Please stop by the Technical Education Publishing Company booth.
Booth #211150
- Meet our editorial staff.
- Learn about upcoming educator resources.
- Share innovative classroom projects.
- Discuss workforce development trends.
- Explore opportunities to publish your own work.
- Meet other educators from across North America.
Administrators Should Attend as Partnership Builders
A successful manufacturing program depends on more than equipment. It requires relationships with employers, workforce agencies, colleges, credentialing organizations, economic development groups, and other schools.
The summit’s exhibitor mix gives administrators an unusual opportunity to meet those organizations in one location. The main IMTS halls expand that opportunity further by providing direct exposure to companies that may not ordinarily participate in education conferences.
Administrators should arrive prepared to discuss concrete forms of collaboration:
- Serving on a program advisory board
- Reviewing curriculum and competencies
- Providing equipment or software demonstrations
- Hosting instructor externships
- Offering student tours or job shadows
- Supporting internships and apprenticeships
- Donating materials or retired equipment
- Participating in capstone evaluations
- Supplying labor-market and hiring information
- Collaborating on grant applications
Administrators should also look beyond equipment vendors. Organizations such as the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute can become valuable collaborators for advisory committees, instructor development, workforce initiatives, and student career pathways.
The objective is not to collect the largest possible stack of business cards. It is to identify a small number of organizations whose workforce needs align with the program’s students, region, and instructional capacity.
Administrator Takeaway
Registering students is only the first planning decision. Schools should also determine who will document curriculum findings, who will approach potential partners, how the findings will be presented to the advisory board, and when the program will decide which changes to implement.
A Broader Question of Competitiveness
The workforce conversation extends beyond individual employers.
Manufacturing USA’s federal strategy combines technology development, domestic production capability, workforce development, industrial competitiveness, and national priorities. Its network connects federal agencies, manufacturing institutes, industry, universities, and workforce organizations.
The Department of Defense has similarly emphasized the relationship among workforce capacity, advanced manufacturing, supply chains, and the ability of the industrial base to produce critical systems. Recent Defense Department initiatives have highlighted additive manufacturing, autonomous inspection, advanced materials, machining, and other production technologies as contributors to military readiness and industrial capacity.
For technical educators, the national-security argument should not replace the student opportunity argument. It adds another layer of significance.
A school that prepares technicians to troubleshoot automated systems, inspect precision components, protect industrial networks, or maintain production equipment is not only helping graduates secure employment. It is contributing to the productive capacity of its region and, cumulatively, the country.
What Educators Should Watch at IMTS 2026
Accessible Automation
Automation is becoming more relevant to small and midsize manufacturers as systems become easier to program, integrate, and redeploy. Educators should look beyond the robot itself and examine what is reducing the cost or complexity of implementation.
AI at the Point of Production
AI applications are moving into inspection, maintenance, scheduling, knowledge capture, and production support. Deloitte’s 2026 manufacturing outlook found that manufacturers continue to prioritize smart-manufacturing investments and are increasingly considering AI as part of operations and workforce development.
The educational question is not whether every student needs to become an AI developer. It is whether students can evaluate machine-generated recommendations, understand production data, recognize unreliable outputs, and apply technical judgment. These developments reinforce broader trends in the future of STEM education, particularly the convergence of AI, automation, and career-connected learning.
The Digital Thread
CAD, CAM, simulation, machine control, inspection, production monitoring, and quality documentation are increasingly connected. Programs that teach each element in isolation may not reflect the workflow students encounter in industry.
Maintenance and Reliability
Every new automated system creates a corresponding need for installation, calibration, maintenance, fault diagnosis, and repair. The strong BLS outlook for industrial machinery mechanics illustrates why maintenance should be treated as a central advanced-manufacturing pathway rather than a secondary concern.
Cross-Disciplinary Careers
The NIST competency framework found substantial overlap among manufacturing technology areas. Educators should watch for competencies that appear across multiple exhibits—particularly data analysis, measurement, testing, troubleshooting, technical documentation, and computer-aided design.
Questions to Ask Your Program
After IMTS, faculty members and administrators should be able to answer the following:
- Does our curriculum reflect integrated manufacturing systems or isolated pieces of equipment?
- Can students diagnose problems, or only operate equipment when everything works correctly?
- Do our courses connect design, production, measurement, data, quality, and maintenance?
- Are our credentials aligned with competencies that regional employers actually request?
- Do students encounter current software and workflows, even when we cannot purchase the newest machines?
- Are instructors receiving enough exposure to modern production environments?
- Does our advisory committee include people who understand automation, digital manufacturing, and emerging occupations?
- Can students explain how their technical competencies transfer across occupations?
- Are work-based learning opportunities connected to clear learning objectives?
- What should we stop teaching, start teaching, or teach differently?
Funding Opportunity to Watch
The National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education program supports technician education at two-year colleges and encourages partnerships among secondary schools, colleges, employers, and economic development organizations. Eligible work can include curriculum development, faculty professional development, career pathways, and applied research related to technician education.
The next full-proposal deadline listed by NSF is Oct. 1, 2026. Institutions considering an application should review the complete solicitation and eligibility requirements rather than relying on the event alone as a funding strategy.
The timing creates a narrow but potentially useful connection: colleges already developing an ATE proposal may be able to use IMTS conversations to validate needs, identify partners, and strengthen their understanding of current technology and workforce requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where is the Smartforce Student Summit at IMTS 2026?
The summit will take place Sept. 14–19, 2026, in North Building, Hall C, at McCormick Place in Chicago. It will operate from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Is the Smartforce Student Summit free?
Yes. Registration is free for eligible students, educators, school administrators, and chaperones. Registered participants also receive access to the broader IMTS exhibition halls.
Who may attend?
The event welcomes K–12 groups, community and technical college students, university students and faculty, adult education programs, homeschool groups, robotics teams, STEM clubs, and other education-related groups.
Does a school need a final student count before registering?
No. Schools can register with an estimated headcount and revise the number later. Organizers nevertheless encourage groups to register early.
What technologies will students encounter?
Expected subject areas include robotics, automation, CNC machining, additive manufacturing, welding, metrology, digital manufacturing, CAD/CAM, quality systems, and other advanced production technologies.
How can educators prevent the visit from becoming an unstructured field trip?
Programs should establish learning objectives, assign student investigation teams, select priority exhibitors, use a common evidence-collection form, and schedule a post-event curriculum review.
What should students bring?
Postsecondary students seeking employment should bring résumés. All students should bring prepared questions and a structured method for recording technologies, competencies, occupations, credentials, and employer contacts. IMTS specifically encourages postsecondary students to arrive prepared to meet potential employers.
TechEd Magazine Perspective
The Smartforce Student Summit will succeed if it inspires students, but inspiration alone will not solve the manufacturing workforce challenge.
Its greater value may be its ability to expose the distance between the systems manufacturers are adopting and the systems schools are teaching. That distance cannot always be closed by purchasing new equipment. It can also be reduced through better integration of existing courses, stronger troubleshooting instruction, more employer-informed projects, instructor externships, updated credentials, and deeper industry partnerships.
Educators should therefore leave IMTS with more than photographs and promotional materials. They should leave with evidence: which skills are converging, which occupations are emerging, where their programs remain strong, where they are falling behind, and which partners can help them act.
That is what turns a trade-show visit into a workforce-development strategy.
Continue Reading
- Future of STEM Education: Trends Shaping CTE Programs
- America’s Advanced Manufacturing Workforce
- National Certifications for Robotics and Advanced Automation
- The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute
- Machining and CNC Optimization Training
Pull Quote Source(s)
“The Summit is a unique opportunity for students and educators to collaborate not only with educational representatives from the manufacturing industry but also with the actual industry itself.”
— Lindsay Cline, Vice President of Education Business Development, Phillips Corporation
Original source:
Smartforce Student Summit at IMTS 2024 Enables Students to See Themselves in a STEM Career
Published by IMTS, March 21, 2024.
Sources
Event Information
- IMTS — Smartforce Student Summit 2026
Official event overview, registration information, eligibility, exhibit-hall access, and attendee guidance.
https://www.imts.com/smartforce/ - IMTS — Registration Is Open for the Smartforce Student Summit
Current 2026 description of the event, expected technologies, career connections, and intended audiences.
https://www.imts.com/read/article-details.cfm?articleid=2225&type=8 - IMTS — Smartforce Student Summit at IMTS 2024 Enables Students to See Themselves in a STEM Career
Primary source for the quotations from Lindsay Cline, Greg Jones, Catherine Ross, and Carmen Mahon.
https://www.imts.com/read/article-details/Smartforce-Student-Summit-at-IMTS-2024-Enables-Students-To-See-Themselves-in-a-STEM-Career/1924/type/Press-Release/5 - IMTS — IMTS 2024 History and Student Summit Recap
Includes attendance results and quotations from Catherine Ross and educator Misty Richmond.
https://www.imts.com/read/article-details/IMTS-2024/2098/type/History/6 - IMTS — Inspire the Future at the Smartforce Student Summit
Provides examples of participating organizations, technologies, demonstrations, training, and career activities.
https://www.imts.com/read/article-details/Inspire-the-Future-at-the-Smartforce-Student-Summit-at-IMTS-2024/2033/type/Read/1
Workforce and Labor-Market Research
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Careers in Manufacturing
Source for manufacturing employment, occupational openings, and projected workforce demand.
https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2026/article/manufacturing.htm - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Industrial Machinery Mechanics, Maintenance Workers and Millwrights
Source for employment projections related to maintaining and repairing automated industrial equipment.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/installation-maintenance-and-repair/industrial-machinery-mechanics-and-maintenance-workers-and-millwrights.htm - Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte — Manufacturing Workforce Study
Source for estimates regarding millions of positions manufacturers may need to fill and the potential number of unfilled jobs.
https://themanufacturinginstitute.org/manufacturers-need-as-many-as-3-8-million-new-employees-by-2033/
Competencies and Advanced Manufacturing
- National Institute of Standards and Technology — Manufacturing USA Occupation and Competency Framework
Source for advanced manufacturing occupations, competencies, transferable skills, and workforce-development alignment.
https://www.nist.gov/publications/analysis-manufacturing-usa-occupation-and-competency-framework - NIST — Full Manufacturing USA Competency Framework Report
Complete technical report supporting the discussion of competencies such as CAD/CAM, measurement, data analysis, testing, automated systems, and troubleshooting.
https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=961765 - NIST — Manufacturing USA Annual Report
Supports the discussion connecting advanced manufacturing, workforce development, technology, domestic competitiveness, and national priorities.
https://www.nist.gov/publications/manufacturing-usa-2025-annual-report
Funding
- National Science Foundation — Advanced Technological Education Program
Official source for the ATE program, eligibility, proposal requirements, partnerships, and current deadlines.
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/ate-advanced-technological-education
