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.
The SME Education Foundation awarded 222 scholarships totaling nearly $550,000 to graduating high school seniors, undergraduates and graduate students currently or planning to attend colleges, universities across the United States and Canada.
Manufacturing is not dirty. Manufacturing is high-tech. Manufacturing pays wells and leads to prosperous careers. Manufacturing is thriving in the United States. How can we change misperceptions about manufacturing? We can counter each statement with facts.
The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has been instrumental in the SME PRIME schools’ program in two Southeast Michigan communities. Since its inception in 1984, the Foundation has distributed more than $1 billion through more than 67,000 grants to nonprofit organizations.
Ford NGL partnered with the SME Education Foundation through a Ford Motor Company Fund investment to develop an SME PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) curriculum at Romeo High School in Romeo, Michigan.
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 a graduate of Utah’s Weber State University and in the beginning stages of his career at the Ogden, Utah division of Barnes Aerospace as a Special Process Engineer.
This is the second in a series of two blogs focused on manufacturing misperceptions, Industry 4.0 and the next generation of manufacturers.
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.
Roush Industries is making a difference by investing in the SME PRIME schools initiative to prepare Starkweather Academy students for opportunities as machinists, welders and fabricators. The company helps to inform and provide modern equipment, tailored curriculum and hands-on training for the school in Plymouth, Michigan.