Implementing a ???Fellowship??? or Technical Career Development pathway..

I???m doing research into implementing a ???Fellowship??? or Technical Career Development pathway for my company and was wondering if anyone has experience or knowledge with this subject? The goal of the program is to identify, develop, recognize and reward highly-technical, skilled employees so they don???t have to go the ‘people manager’ path to reach a VP or SVP level. I would appreciate any insight or possible outlines of programs that others have used. Thanks!