Funded by IQAir North America and administered by SME Education Foundation, a new Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship for students underrepresented in STEM-related careers is helping 19-year-old Hispanic student Devin Baylon focus on his studies rather than on the financial burdens associated with college.
Rachel Linder, recipient of a 2019 SME Education Foundation Family Scholarship, found that engineering was an educational path to pursue when she realized that it combined her strengths and interests. Now a student at the University of Louisville studying mechanical engineering, Rachel credits support and encouragement from her parents and engaging teachers for her preparation.
Receiving the SME Education Foundation Family Scholarship has played a huge part in the life and career of Erin Manthey, an applied math instructor in the welding program at Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) in Minnesota. With the help of the scholarship, Manthey attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in manufacturing engineering while minoring in math.
SME PRIME students at the Saginaw Career Complex in Michigan recently participated in a student engagement activity that included a hands-on supply chain exercise with representatives from Dow Chemical Co., a partner of the Saginaw Intermediate School District (ISD).
The Saginaw Intermediate School District (ISD)’s SME PRIME initiative has focused on increasing the involvement of women in the technology program by hosting a number of female students at their manufacturing, engineering and welding summer camp.
In the first phase of a new partnership between the Saginaw Intermediate School District (ISD) and the SME PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) initiative, the ISD will receive new manufacturing equipment while instructors at seven high schools receive virtual and on-site professional development.
An SME PRIME school investor, the Honda of America Manufacturing operation in Anna, Ohio (producing engines since 1985), works with nearby Anna High School in a partnership forged through the SME Education Foundation.
The SME Education Foundation was highlighted in an extended feature in The New York Times on preparing high school students for careers in robotics within the manufacturing and engineering industry.
Valerie Freeman, a manufacturing and robotics pathway teacher at Park High School, will join the SME Education Foundation Board of Directors in 2021. Park High School in Racine Unified School District joined the SME PRIME school network in 2017. Freeman was instrumental in utilizing SME PRIME to install new curriculum, training to teach students important skills like how to program a robotic arm and remodeling the classroom for a more effective learning environment.
The number of SME PRIME high schools is set to double after the SME Education Foundation received a $6 million donation from the State of Michigan’s approved Education Budget. The legislation was crafted with bipartisan support from the Michigan Legislature, including Foundation board member and state representative Joe Tate (D-Detroit).