William B. Bonvillian

2 months ago | issues.org | William B. Bonvillian |Jay Lloyd |Vol. XLI

The United States will not regain its leadership in manufacturing by doing more of the same. The country must pursue new paradigms to invoke technological surprise and spur leaps in productivity. The weakness of US manufacturing has become both a social and political issue. Supply chain shocks induced by the COVID-19 pandemic made the true costs of disinvestment in US manufacturing capability evident to American consumers.

May 7, 2024 | issues.org | John Liu |William B. Bonvillian |Vol. XL

John Liu and William B. Bonvillian make a compelling case for bridging the gap between engineers and technicians to support the US government’s efforts for reshoring and reindustrialization. They call for new training programs to produce people with a skill level between technician and engineer—or “technologists,” in their coinage. But before creating new programs, we should examine how the authors’ vision might fit within the nation’s existing educational system.

Feb 5, 2024 | issues.org | John Liu |William B. Bonvillian |Jay Lloyd |Vol. XL

A new occupational category can both create opportunities for workers and position the United States to lead in advanced manufacturing. Soon after completing a master’s program in advanced manufacturing and design, Neha was hired as a process engineer at a semiconductor wafer-cutting plant.

Aug 20, 2023 | americanaffairsjournal.org | David Adler |William B. Bonvillian

Industrial policy is no longer taboo in the United States.1 In the last two years, the federal government has undertaken multiple industrial‑innovation policy initiatives. The chips and Science Act of 2022 is designed to revitalize domestic production of semiconductors as well as to add an applied science directorate to the National Science Foundation (NSF) focused on advanced technologies.

Jun 25, 2023 | americanaffairsjournal.org | David Adler |William B. Bonvillian

America’s Advanced Manufacturing Problem—and How to Fix It When recalling Harry S. Truman’s legacy in World War II, we tend to think more about the end of the war than the beginning. But in 1940, Truman began receiving letters about a new Army fort being constructed in Pulaski County, in the Ozark hills of Missouri, the state he represented in the U.S. Senate.