First, let's be clear; the building and technical skilled trades cannot exist without engineering. They are based on standard engineering principles and require knowledge and understanding of basic engineering concepts. For various reasons, the demand for workers trained and educated in the skilled trades is higher today than it has ever been; and for equally various reasons, enrollment in building and skilled trades programs at community colleges and trade schools is on the rise throughout the U.S. What's more, the trades are attracting a wide range of people, from high school graduates to people looking for an alternative career, to military veterans. Hamid King, a skilled trades instructor at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, North Carolina reports that he has also seen a number of people who have been working in the skilled trades for a number of years - some of them with as many as 10 or 15 years of experience in the industry - returning to school to update their skills in hopes of increasing their earnings potential. And interestingly enough, he says some of his students include women as well as men. One significant advantage the building and skilled trades education programs offer students is apprenticeships with local employers, which allows them to earn money and gain valuable on-the-job experience at the same time they're getting an education. Sometimes these apprenticeships lead to full-time positions in the company. With the foregoing in mind, the goal of this paper is to clearly define the building and technical skilled trades, focusing on architectural technology, automotive systems technology, computer-integrated machining, construction trades, electrical systems technology, and electronics engineering technology. Added emphasis will be placed on the role of engineering in teaching these subjects and how it impacts the curriculum. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2023.
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