SME PRIME students at Hawthorne High School near Los Angeles, CA recently graduated from South Bay Workforce Investment Board’s (SBWIB) Aero-Flex Pre-Apprenticeship program. The 23 students from the schools manufacturing and engineering program will leave high school better prepared to directly enter the workforce upon graduation.

Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) continue to transform the nature of manufacturing and engineering work. While low-skill, lower-wage jobs could be phased out, newer technologies will create new high-skill, higher-wage jobs.

Greg Smith earned the 2019 SME Directors Scholarship based on accomplishments that included decades of welding experience and a solid skill set build around his passion for engineering. Today, Greg is on pace for graduating from Utah’s Weber State University in December 2019 and beginning his career at the Ogden, Utah division of Barnes Aerospace as a Special Process Engineer.

Julian Rogers earned a 2014 E. Wayne Kay Scholarship with his determination and drive to pursue a Mechanical Engineering degree. Today, he’s applying his engineering skills to his work with drone company Insitu.