The SME Education Foundation scholarships support students pursuing degrees in advanced manufacturing and related fields at two- and four-year schools, colleges and universities. We have awarded more than $7 million to nearly 3,000 deserving students in the United States and Canada since 2005.
Scholarships can mean much more than financial support, says Kyle Riegel, recipient of the 2008 SME Education Foundation Family Scholarship. Kyle is a field sales engineer with Schunk Carbon Technology in Iowa. A 2008 graduate of Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, Kyle currently serves on their engineering board.
In the wake of COVID-19, educators at Pine Bush High School and Saginaw Intermediate School District (ISD) — both of which are part of SME’s PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) program — have taken creative approaches to learning. Pine Bush High School students returned to school virtually in early September. At Saginaw ISD in Michigan, the back-to-school experience in Fall 2020 includes a combination of remote, hybrid and face-to-face learning, including Tooling U-SME online coursework.
Park High School, part of the Racine Unified School District, serves 1,900 students. Through SME PRIME, the high school students at the school explore opportunity in advanced manufacturing through training on modern equipment and learning from tailored curriculum.
Fori Automation provides opportunities for young people to explore and discover exciting careers in advanced manufacturing.
The SME Education Foundation inspires high school students to discover the manufacturing industry at our Student Summits co-located at SME events across the country throughout the year. Our students summits deliver student-centric programming that educates the next generation about the manufacturing industry with technology demonstrations, hands-on challenges and a guided, interactive SME event show floor tour.
The WESTEC 2019 Student Summit will host over 200 high school students and introduce them to the high tech and exciting career available in the modern manufacturing industry through hands-on challenges and competitions, guided event show-floor tours and technology demonstrations, and inspirational industry guest speakers.
170 high school students from 11 schools descended upon the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts from May 14-16 eager to explore and discover manufacturing career opportunities at the SME Education Foundation’s Student Summit event series at EASTEC.
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.