The SME Education Foundation continued its transformation in 2020, despite the many challenges posed by COVID-19.
The SME Education Foundation continued program and operational enhancements, expanding and improve execution of our mission: inspiring, preparing and supporting the next generation of manufacturing and engineering talent.
The future of the Foundation is increasingly bright. We remain singularly focused on the importance of what we do and the efficiency with which we do it. We welcome your participation and invite your continued support.
SME and the SME Education Foundation are mourning the death of Irving P. McPhail, EdD, 2020 president of the Foundation’s board of directors. During his career, McPhail made outstanding and unforgettable contributions to the advancement of manufacturing and education. His service to the SME Education Foundation was marked by a great passion for manufacturing education, a deep commitment to broadening industry opportunities for all communities, and a sincere belief in the Foundation’s mission to inspire and support talented young people from all backgrounds.
A signature accomplishment in 2020, the SME Education Foundation desires to support diversity, equity and inclusion as compelling components in fostering a manufacturing and engineering workforce that derives educational and societal benefits from varied experiences, opinions, backgrounds and cultures.
The Foundation partnered with Tooling U-SME in April 2020 on a campaign to raise funds for online learning licenses for career and technical education (CTE) students across the country. The 90-day campaign raised a total of $43,350 for Tooling U-SME licenses, benefiting 403 students.
In 2020 we continued to meet the program’s mandate of providing a tailored curriculum and hands-on training to high school students in 62 schools in 22 states across the country and distributed $1.8 million to PRIME schools. Two new schools were added to the PRIME network in 2020: West Texas Training Center, San Angelo, Texas and Academies of Racine at Horlick High School, Racine, Wisconsin.
“PRIME has had a profound impact on our school over the course of our multi-year relationship. Successes for 2019-20 include a new course in precision measurement instruments, a new course in robotics, new student certifications in precision measurement skills, and new relationships with local industry related to our Fanuc robot.”
The SME Education Foundation is the leading voice in manufacturing education. As the philanthropic arm of SME, we continue to significantly impact students, educators and companies nationwide. Help us inspire, prepare and support the next generation of manufacturing and engineering talent.
