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NEMA Launches Career Development Platform to Power the Electroindustry Workforce of the Future

William Attardi on September 19, 2025

 NEMA announced NEMA Academy, a dynamic new online learning platform designed to strengthen technical training and workforce development across the electroindustry.  The future of manufacturing demands a workforce skilled in robotics, AI, digital tools, and industrial automation, and NEMA Academy is designed to meet that need. Built for professionals at every stage of their careers, the platform provides access to more than 1,400 education and certification opportunities in multiple languages. Courses span a range of topics, including NEMA standards, policy issues, supply chain resilience, emergency preparedness, lighting, and more. With new content added regularly, NEMA also is working with Congress to advance comprehensive workforce development legislation to ensure long-term support for the electrical industry’s workforce. The bipartisan Veterans Energy Transition (VET) Actwill help match veterans with a range of technical and operational skills with the manufacturers of critical electrical equipment and components.  NEMA Launches Career Development Platform To Power the Electroindustry Workforce of the Future – NEMA

NEMA Academy to Reshape Industry Education by Craig DiLouie

William Attardi on April 12, 2025

For 25 years, the Lighting Controls Association, a council of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), has educated the building industry about lighting control technology and application, notably through its Education Express courses. The organization is proud to announce that starting May 1, 2025, the Education Express curriculum will be incorporated into a new learning management system, NEMA Academy. The new platform will feature an improved website, a comprehensive learning platform, and access to a broad and growing curriculum covering lighting controls in addition to other topics, from lighting to safety to emergency preparedness. NEMA Academy to Reshape Industry Education

 

Education Express to Become NEMA Academy

William Attardi on March 14, 2025

Big news! The Lighting Controls Association’s Education Express is moving to NEMA’s new learning platform: NEMA Academy. This transition will provide an improved user experience and new opportunities for professional development, with the same Education Express courses combined with a growing curriculum of courses in lighting and other electrical fields. If you are one of our tens of thousands of Education Express students, your account will automatically transition to the new NEMA Academy platform, which will officially launch on May 1, 2025. Education Express to Become NEMA Academy

The Statue of Liberty was made with copper but due to oxidation, it turned green.

When the “Lady in the Harbor” first arrived in New York in 1886, she didn’t look like the mint-green icon we know today. In fact, for the first twenty years of her life, she stood as a towering, metallic beacon of reddish-gold. Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and engineered by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the statue was a gift from France to America. To build her, Bartholdi chose copper for three practical reasons:

  • Malleability:It could be hammered into elaborate, thin sheets.
  • Weight:Copper is lighter than stone or bronze, making it easier to ship 350 individual pieces across the Atlantic.
  • Durability:It was strong enough to survive a 27-day ocean voyage and the harsh winds of the harbor.

When she was unveiled on October 28, 1886, her skin—made of 300 copper sheets roughly the thickness of two pennies—shone with a bright, metallic brown luster. The transformation from “penny-colored” to “patina-green” wasn’t planned. Bartholdi actually expected the statue to age into a deeper, darker red. However, the unique environment of New York Harbor—a mix of salt air, moisture, and industrial pollution—triggered a process called oxidation.

The Timeline of Change:

  1. 1886–1900:The bright copper dulled into a dark, muddy brown.
  2. 1903:The first hints of a light green crust, or “patina,” began to appear.
  3. 1906:The color change was so controversial that Congress nearly stepped in. They appropriated $62,000 to paint the statue back to its original color, but the public protested, calling the idea “sacrilege.”
  4. 1910–1920:The statue was a patchy mix of brown and green until 1920, when the oxidation was complete, leaving her entirely teal.

While we now view the green color as iconic, it actually serves a vital structural purpose. The layer of verdigris (the green patina) acts as a protective shield. It seals the copper underneath, preventing the metal from further corrosion and weathering.  By the time the color fully changed, a new generation of immigrants had arrived in America seeing a green statue.