Sarah Boisvert has over 30 years experience bridging the commercialization of high technology products and workforce training.

Ms. Boisvert is a co-founder of Potomac Photonics, Inc., an ultraviolet laser and machine tool manufacturer, where she served as CEO, with particular interest in creating internal workforce training programs and apprenticeships. Following the sale of the company in 1999, she turned her focus exclusively to workforce issues.

In 2010, Ms. Boisvert founded Fab Lab Hub, part of the Fab Lab Network based at MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, to foster entrepreneurship and workforce training for New Collar job skills. Partially funded by Verizon, in 2016 Ms. Boisvert interviewed 200 companies ranging in size from startups to Fortune 10 multi-nationals from a wide variety of industries as to the digital skills needed for operators and technicians in manufacturing. The data resulting from her work is the basis of the book, The New Collar Workforce, published by Photonics Media Press.

In 2017, she opened fab labs at Santa Fe [NM] Community College [SFCC] and the Santa Fe [NM] Business Incubator, dedicated to workforce training and entrepreneurship. With funding from America Makes and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, her team is developing Digital Badges to certify skills for New Collar jobs including 3D Printing operator and robotics service technician. The badges are issued by the non-profit North American Digital Fabrication Alliance, a part of the MIT Fab Lab Network. The pilot was tested through the continuing education department at SFCC and is being launched in 2019 at 10 sites across North America.

Ms. Boisvert is a Fellow and Past President of the Laser Institute of America and has served on the Boards of numerous international technical societies. For fun, she 3D Prints jewelry.