Erie, Pa. — The Molders' Series offered by the American Injection Molding (AIM) Institute earned accreditation from the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), which is the largest accreditation body in North America.
AIM is now home to the only four ANAB-accredited training programs in the injection molding industry: Molding 1, Molding 2, Molding 3 and the Plastics Technology and Engineering (PTE) certificate program.
The formal third-party accreditation requires a commitment to meet strict ANSI/ASTM E2659 standards set to provide high-value education and training and a good student experience. Everyone that completes a Molders' Series course at AIM will earn an internationally recognized ANAB-accredited certificate.
To comply with the standards, AIM traces course content and exams to specific learning objectives, uses psychometrics and statistical analysis to develop passing scores and tracks skills assessment for a quality evaluation of the student.
AIM was founded in 2015 by Plastics Hall of Fame member John Beaumont, who helped develop the plastics engineering technology program at Penn State Erie and patented the MeltFlipper technology, which solves problems related to melt variations.
Beaumont also recognized a large skills gap in the industry. He started AIM to provide a formal educational setting for plastics professionals to take their injection molding training to the next level outside of a university.
AIM's advisory board has representatives from more than 25 companies in the injection molding industry. They meet regularly to review the educational content, assessment methods, learning objectives and program formats to meet the needs of the plastics industry.