Coming Full Circle to SkillsUSA with Local and Global Manufacturing Experience

At 17, Manny Resendes didn’t know much about advanced manufacturing. Walking into his high school’s machine shop for the first time, he admits he tried to get out.

“I didn’t know what machining was,” he said. “I was thinking about HVAC, electrical – what I grew up hearing about.”

But once he got his hands on a lathe and mill, something clicked. “I was addicted,” he said.

That spark ignited a now 30-year career that has spanned shop floors, continents and cutting-edge industries. And it’s brought him full circle to where it all began: SkillsUSA Massachusetts, where he’s now mentoring the next generation of tradespeople.

As a student 40 years ago, Resendes competed in SkillsUSA in what was then called machine shop (known today as advanced management). While he earned accolades as Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School’s student of the year four times, he didn’t make it to the national stage – but that didn’t matter. “What it gave me was a drive,” he said. “It made me want to be the best.”

That mindset served him well. After graduating from high school, he started at Gillette but quickly found a better fit at Larson Tool & Stamping, a family-run manufacturer in Attleboro. There, he and a colleague were the last to complete the Massachusetts State Apprenticeship Program for toolmaking.

At Larson, Resendes mastered toolmaking, engineering design and process optimization, earning a Six Sigma black belt and establishing himself as an expert in precision metal forming. But after 20 years, he wanted to broaden his perspective.

“I needed to taste something different,” he said.

What followed was a whirlwind two-and-a-half-year journey through some of the most advanced manufacturing environments in the world. He worked on jet engines at GE in Lynn, cutting-edge R&D with Rolls-Royce in Walpole, and helped an MIT-launched startup in Boston develop a revolutionary suspension system for electric vehicles now used in China’s NIO cars. In that role, he slashed per-unit production costs from $800 to $236 by redesigning processes and traveling the globe to learn best practices in Japan, Germany and Taiwan.

“I brought all those insights back with me,” he said. “And then Larson called.”

Paying It Forward Back at Home

Now back at Larson leading the engineering and tools teams, Resendes applies his international experience to a company and industry he believes in. Outside the office, he chairs the Precision Metalforming Association’s New England District. And last fall, he added another challenge by taking on oversight for the CNC competitions for SkillsUSA Massachusetts.

Resendes threw himself into the opportunity to ensure students had practical and meaningful experiences. He updated outdated competition standards, streamlined setups and incorporated industry-relevant tools like Mastercam and high-speed machining. With an eye on mirroring real-world expectations and experiences, he led five separate events: two-axis lathe, three-axis mill, CNC programming, five-axis milling and advanced manufacturing technology.

In addition to coordinating countless logistics, Resendes was shaping futures. “We had students who hit a perfect 1,000-point score,” he said. “They programmed a part, ran it and made something I could sell straight off a print - at 17 or 18 years old.”

That real-world alignment is key to how Resendes sees his role. “In the real world, a computer won’t always tell you the answer. You have to make the part, measure it and know it works.”

Reframing the Trade

Resendes also believes correcting outdated perceptions is part of his mission. “People think of dark, dirty shops. That’s not reality,” he said. “Modern CNC environments are pristine. They’re clean, high-tech and incredibly precise.”

He’s passionate about helping young people and their parents see the trade as a true gateway to challenging, rewarding and financially secure careers. In fact, he regularly hosts student groups from the state’s technical schools to give them a glimpse of the real-world profession. “We’ve had 30, 40, even 50 students come through in one day,” he said. “Once they see it, their eyes light up.”

With a growing attention to AI’s role in the workforce, Resendes remains grounded that his trade will continue to require hands-on experiences. “AI might help generate code someday, but it’s not replacing machinists,” he said. “Nothing beats seeing the part, hearing the cut and feeling the process.”

While he’s tinkered with AI in the shop, he sees the possibility for it to become another tool in a machinist’s arsenal. For example, AI could be used to assist with setup, simulation and diagnostics, but the heart of the work remains hands-on, a blend of experience and precision. “It’s like golf,” he said. “The money’s in the putting. At the end of the day, the value is in that final part. And these students are delivering.”

He saw that first-hand at the SkillsUSA competition and the investment that the students put into their work. “Some kids had tears. Some had joy. But they all cared,” he said. “I’d hire every single one of them.”