The Arconic Foundation donated $25,000 to the SME Education Foundation’s COVID-19 campaign. Donations to the campaign will ensure that online learning provided by Tooling U-SME becomes available to thousands of high school students in 12 manufacturing disciplines, including additive manufacturing, mechatronics and smart manufacturing.

Career and technical education students at SME PRIME® high schools in Michigan, Illinois, and New York have experienced firsthand the importance of manufacturing to our nation and the world — and how their classroom studies and hands-on lab work relate to real-world challenges, and can even save lives during the coronavirus pandemic.

Diversity in Action magazine featured the SME Education Foundation’s efforts to reach more students from underrepresented groups and provide them with opportunities to pursue careers in the manufacturing industry.

Industry 4.0 ushered in new technologies, new products and new ways of working. It's imperative that high schools keep pace with the skills they teach students to prepare them for the manufacturing workforce. SME PRIME schools give manufacturing students a head start, as they inspire them to use and test the skills they learn in the classroom during regular class projects as well as occasional special assignments.