ICC Brings FANUC Robotics Training to Mississippi Educators

BELDEN, Miss. – May 27, 2026 – At first glance, the robotics laboratory inside Itawamba Community College’s (ICC) Belden Center resembles a small-scale manufacturing facility, complete with conveyor systems, industrial robotic arms, and automated training cells.

Last week, instructors stepped into the role of students during a three-day FANUC Certified Education Robotics Training course aimed at expanding robotics education across Mississippi and beyond.

Funded by AccelerateMS, the training was brought directly to Mississippi, allowing instructors to receive hands-on certification training without traveling out of state. Organizers said the arrangement significantly expanded access and participation opportunities for community college partners across the state.

John McMullen, a technical instructor with FANUC, said the certification serves as validation that instructors are teaching industry-standard robotics programming and automation skills directly aligned with the equipment and software used in modern manufacturing facilities.

“Robotics as a whole is escalating to a point that’s kind of next level,” he said. “We basically tell people how to use robots, how to program them, how to troubleshoot them.”

Instructors complete two core courses focused on robot programming, movement and camera-guided vision systems before submitting a classroom syllabus and a short teaching demonstration video. FANUC then reviews the materials before instructors can sit for the NOCTI, the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute, exam that officially certifies them to teach the company’s robotics curriculum.

Rachel McGonagill, a welding instructor at Northwest Mississippi Community College, enrolled in the training as the college prepares to expand its robotics curriculum. She said robotics is becoming increasingly important in welding and manufacturing because automation can handle repetitive production tasks while allowing skilled workers to focus on more advanced fabrication work. McGonagill said robotics can handle repetitive production welds that many workers do not want to perform repeatedly.

“The robot can go ahead and start doing that while this welder is going over here and doing the more integrated part.”

Northwest plans to launch a robotics-focused welding course next summer as part of a new associate degree program, and McGonagill said the certification will help prepare her to teach the new material.

Karey McAnally, a workforce instructor at ICC who participated in the training, described the course as informative and well-organized. McAnally said the instructor explained programming and troubleshooting concepts in a way that was easy to understand and said the hands-on lab exercises helped reinforce the material.

“Overall, it was an excellent training experience that improved my confidence and understanding of FANUC robots,” McAnally said.

TZ Waters, director of workforce education at ICC, said the training represents an important step toward building a stronger robotics and automation workforce pipeline across north Mississippi.

“It gives our community college instructors the opportunity to begin the process of becoming certified FANUC robotics instructors, which will help us grow local training opportunities in advanced manufacturing and automation,” she said. “There has been a real need for this type of high-tech training in our region, and we’re very thankful to AccelerateMS for providing the funding and support to make it happen.”