Press Release: 8/13/2025
Clash of Trades Combines Reality TV with Manufacturing
Posted on August 12, 2025
By Brooke Thomson
President & CEO
What do you get when you cross reality TV with manufacturing?
The answer is “Clash of Trades,” a YouTube reality show that features aspiring machinists and welders racing the clock to fabricate complex mechanical parts. The program is intended to boost the appeal of skilled trades at a time when manufacturers in Massachusetts and elsewhere struggle to find workers.
The program is produced by Project MFG, which was recently featured in a New York Timesprofile. Project MFG hosts competitions in welding, machining and 3-D printing for students at community colleges and high schools across the country, and films them for the show. The U.S. military sponsors the project, alongside a foundation affiliated with Haas Automation, which makes computer numerical control machines for precise cutting and drilling, and Mastercam, which sells the software that controls them.
The program just wrapped its fifth season. It features all the elements of reality TV – dramatic music, a countdown clock and competitors with rapt expressions. The only difference is that the competitors are not Hollywood wannabes, but the future of manufacturing in the United States.
Hundreds of students from 60 schools competed in Season Five, going through regional competitions that produced four finalists who went to a national championship. Teams had to produce components for a gimbal that could be used to help collect data in space.
Each team had 20 hours to manufacture the part. A panel of three judges scored teams on the accuracy of their parts, the time it took to make them, and cost of the materials and labor used. Teams started with metal blocks and were required to use programmable machines to carve them and drill holes into them.
The season 5 winner? Yuba College in Marysville, California. The three-person team took home a $100,000 prize. Several members of all four finalist teams said they plan to invest the prize money into their own businesses.
The good news is that “Clash of Trades” reflects a renewed emphasis on the manufacturing sector and the value of skilled people who work simultaneously with their heads and their hands. AIM and its Manufacturing Community are gratified that five dozen schools and colleges are enthusiastic enough about manufacturing technology to be part of the show.
“Like the organizers of this program, the manufacturing community of AIM members is focused on creating programs in the state to keep our pipeline of skilled workers growing and ready to take on the jobs that will keep innovation moving forward,” said Leslie Greis, Co-Chair of the AIM Manufacturing Community and an owner of Kinefac Corporation in Worcester.
“We have fantastic students coming through the Massachusetts vocational/technical school system who can bring programming skills and hands-on abilities to support local machine shops. Expanding these vocational programs will help keep our state competitive.”
We wish Project MFG the best of luck for season 6. Perhaps the next winner will come from Massachusetts.
Editor’s note – Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler will be among the speakers at AIM’s annual Economic Outlook program September 25 at Roxbury Community College. Vocational education is expected to be one of the topics of conversation. Please join the conversation.