The TechEd Podcast
Bridging the gap between technical education & the workforce 🎙 Hosted by Matt Kirchner, each episode features conversations with leaders who are shaping, innovating and disrupting the future of the skilled workforce and how we inspire and train individuals toward those jobs. STEM, Career and Technical Education, and Engineering educators - this podcast is for you! Manufacturing and industrial employers - this podcast is for you, too!
Episodes
With technical colleges serving as the front line for breaking generational poverty, one question rises to the surface: how do we design education that truly creates economic mobility?
In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, host Matt Kirchner digs into that question with Dr. Anthony Cruz, President of Milwaukee Area Technical College — the largest nonprofit technical college in the country and one of the most diverse institutions in...
Higher education can’t keep teaching “just in case” knowledge. In an era where technology evolves faster than curriculum, universities must align directly with industry needs — and that’s exactly what Paul Lavoie is doing at the University of New Haven.
In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, host Matt Kirchner sits down with Paul, the university’s Vice President of Innovation and Applied Technology and former Chief Manufacturing Off...
Watch this episode on YouTube! https://youtu.be/UbNr7vF4CC8?si=VqX2owW86GNq7Ods
What does it really take to get started with artificial intelligence in a small or mid-sized company right here in the U.S.?
In Part 2 of this two-part series, Matt Kirchner continues breaking down A Manufacturer’s Guide to AI Tech — exploring the final 7 technologies reshaping how organizations operate, automate, and make decisions.
From autonomous mobile...
What does it really take to get started with artificial intelligence in a small or mid-sized company right here in the U.S.?
We're breaking it down in this two-part series.
In part 1, Matt Kirchner shares lessons from his recent trip overseas and what he learned visiting 26 advanced tech companies in six days. From open-source innovation and mandatory AI education to the work ethic driving global competition,...
Rural America is on the brink of an economic transformation. With more than $1 trillion in advanced manufacturing investments (and nearly two-thirds of that flowing into rural regions) this moment represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revitalize local economies, strengthen school-industry partnerships, and empower students with career pathways in advanced manufacturing.
When the founder of the world’s largest furniture manufacturer partners with one of the nation’s most innovative technical colleges, you get one of the most unique learning centers in the world. This week, host Matt Kirchner is joined by the visionaries behind the landmark Wanek Center of Innovation at Western Technical College: Ron Wanek, Founder of Ashley Furniture Industries, Dr. Josh Gamer, Associate Vice President of Workforce...
When we think of STEM, we often picture engineers, chemists, or programmers. But what about someone who patents a piece of clothing, challenges the textile industry, and builds a company around purpose-driven innovation?
In a very unique episode of The TechEd Podcast, host Matt Kirchner sits down with Michael Drescher, Founder of Vibrant Body Company. Drescher’s career has spanned cable TV, logistics, and media before leading him to...
You asked...we answered!
In this first-ever “Ask Us Anything” episode, producer Melissa Martin flips the script and poses your biggest questions to host Matt Kirchner. The result is a candid, wide-ranging conversation that covers career decisions, workforce challenges, and the future of artificial intelligence.
From elementary classrooms to C-suite hiring struggles to the role of AI in disrupting education, this episode explores the ...
Haven’t been to a technical college in the last 3 years? The transformation is striking, and it’s only a glimpse of the reinvention higher education faces in the next decade.
In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, host Matt Kirchner talks with Layla Merrifield, President of the Wisconsin Technical College System, about why the future of higher education depends on bold innovation. Merrifield doesn’t mince words: credit loss should b...
What happens when K-12, higher education, manufacturing, and a startup tech company sit around the same table to talk about AI? This episode brings that rare collaboration to life.
Recorded live at TitletownTech—the venture studio founded by Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers—this panel features four leaders from distinctly different sectors, all navigating how AI is changing their world. From fault anomaly detection in industrial ...
Building tomorrow’s workforce starts with more than just technical skills—it requires access, mentorship, and leaders willing to invest in students long before they enter the job market.
In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, Mary Ellen Stanek, Co-Founder and CIO Emeritus of Baird Asset Management, shares how one of the nation’s most respected investment firms thinks about talent, education, and inclusion. She reflects on being the ...
Distributed manufacturing allows goods to be produced closer to where they’re needed — but enabling that future requires a complete rethink of infrastructure, systems, and workforce development.
In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, Dr. Charles Johnson-Bey joins host Matt Kirchner for a deep dive into Engineering the Future of Distributed Manufacturing — the new national report from the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA...
Workforce systems are often fragmented—built around short-term funding, disconnected programs, and a lack of coordination between industry, education, and community.
But a different model is taking shape - one that’s not only working in practice, but has the potential to scale across states and regions. In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, host Matt Kirchner sits down with Lindsay Blumer, President & CEO of WRTP | BIG STEP, to...
What happens when a world-class mathematician meets ’80s college radio, Bill Gates’ top-10 favorite books, and a host with an algebra redemption arc? A surprisingly funny, fast-moving conversation. Dr. Jordan Ellenberg—John D. MacArthur Professor of Mathematics at UW–Madison and author of How Not to Be Wrong—swaps stories about The Housemartins, consulting on NUMB3RS (yes, one of his lines aired), and competing at the International...
If you still picture farming as dusty tractors and endless manual labor, think again. Today’s agriculture runs on GPS-guided equipment, drones, real-time soil sensors, and data systems that look more like Wall Street trading floors than old barns. In this episode, lifelong farmer and innovator Dick Pavelski and Andy Diercks of the Food + Farm Exploration Center pull back the curtain on precision agriculture—the technology, data, an...
In schools with limited resources, large class sizes, and wide differences in student ability, individualized learning has become a necessity. Artificial intelligence offers powerful tools to help meet those needs, especially in underserved communities. But the way we introduce those tools matters.
This week, Matt Kirchner talks with Sam Whitaker, Director of Social Impact at StudyFetch, about how AI can support literacy, comprehens...
With technical education under pressure to deliver skilled talent faster, Lakeshore College is flipping the model—measuring learning by competency, meeting students where they are (even in high school), and using grants + national advocacy to scale the impact.
This week, Matt Kirchner talks with Dr. Paul Carlsen, President of Lakeshore College, about the different methods to rapidly upskill a technical workforce. Like Lakeshore&apos...
What if audit wasn’t just a watchdog—but a catalyst for innovation, trust, and long-term growth? And what can education learn from it?
In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, Matt Kirchner sits down with Abim Kolawole, Chief Audit Executive at Northwestern Mutual, to explore how risk management, when done right, becomes a strategic advantage. Abim shares his remarkable journey—from growing up in Nigeria and watching Wall Street as a ...
In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, Duncan Kane, Senior Vice President at Toshiba America, shares insights from nearly two decades of working at the intersection of industry and education. Drawing from his leadership in STEM outreach, Duncan explains why Toshiba sees early STEM engagement not just as a good cause—but as a strategic investment in the future of innovation and the workforce.
One way Toshiba brings this vision to lif...
In a world of digital overload, short-form media, and AI-powered personalization, staying focused has never been harder. Today, the average attention span on any screen is just 47 seconds. What's causing this decline in focus, and what should educators do about it?
Those are some of the questions we discuss with Dr. Gloria Mark, UC Irvine informatics professor and author of Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balanc...
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