EXPANDING THE PIPELINE: MNCEME
Co-Sponsors Youth Summer Camps
It is no secret that industry leaders struggle with the misperception that manufacturing is a dirty profession. They find it increasingly difficult to recruit students who are interested and competent in science, technology, engineering and math to help grow their increasingly high-tech business. In 2006, Governor Pawlenty publicly recognized that the lack of STEM skills of Minnesota students was jeopardizing the state’s ability to compete in the global economy.
The Minnesota Center for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence had already made “increasing interest in engineering as a career” part of our mission. Co-sponsorship of youth engineering camps is one of the many ways MNCEME is working toward its goal. Participation in the camps helps to pique young people’s interest in STEM-related careers.
Thanks to the creative expertise and excellent facilities put to use at our partner institutions— Anoka Technical College, Hennepin Technical College, Itasca Community College, Mesabi Range Community and Technical College, Minnesota State University, Mankato, and South Central College—213 youth across the state have a new appreciation and enthusiasm for STEM-related careers.
Building My Future - Anoka Technical College
Brian Graves, Marketing Director
Students from Jackson Middle School explored career pathways including automotive, electronics, welding, drafting and graphic design. The camp gave youngsters a glimpse of technical learning.
“I didn’t know about the hands-on stuff like welding,” said eighth grader Antonio Shellito. “I do believe this will help me in my planning for college.”
Student Sonie Nachucka said, “I would recommend the camp to other youth for next summer. Come and have fun. You get to do things you’ve never done before like welding, working on cars, and graphic design.”
According to Marcellus Davis, a K-12 Higher Education Transition Coordinator at Anoka Technical College, “The camp provides an opportunity for these students to see, touch, smell and learn—planting the seed in middle school for the technical trades.”
Outfitted with safety equipment, junior high students practiced welding skills during the Building My Future engineering camp at Anoka Technical College.
The camp was sponsored by Minnesota Center for Engineering & Manufacturing Excellence in partnership with Anoka-Hennepin School District 11 and Anoka Technical College.
Girls GET IT! Hennepin Technical College,
Brooklyn Park Campus
(Girls Grow with Engineering, Technology, and Industrial Technology)
Naomi Brill, Instructor
Girls who completed grade 9 learned about careers in engineering and technology through a combination of hands-on activities, presentations and discussions.
Activities included engineering design competitions with LEGO™ and mouse-trap vehicles; lessons in computer-aided design and manufacturing; work with electro-mechanical robots, hands-on electronics labs, and fluid-powered robots; and lab sessions on plastic injection molding and precision machining technologies.
Camp evaluations from both participants and parents were positive.
“It’s no longer a question of whether or not my daughter will be an engineer; it’s now a question of what type of engineer she will be!” ~Girls GET IT! parent
This camp was hosted and sponsored by Hennepin Technical College, Brooklyn Park Campus with contributions from MNCEME and the Society of Women Engineers Minnesota Section.
Engineering Camps -Itasca Community College
Ron Ulseth, Engineering Instructor
Itasca Community College held three different camps this past summer, Junior High Camp, Senior High Camp and Project Lead the Way Camp. All camps focused on engineering-related projects and learning but were customized to meet the unique needs of each group of participants.
Junior High Camp
Forty students in grades 6-8 participated in a four-day residential camp. Students heard first hand about STEM-related careers from professionals during various tours of regional industries. On campus, campers enjoyed a variety of hand-on science, engineering, technology and math-related projects while still finding time for recreational activities like waterskiing, hiking, and movies. As a capstone project, students participated in a robolab Rube Goldberg competition.
Senior High Camp
A six-day residential camp offered higher-level engineering challenges and presentations to 40 senior high students. Students toured regional industries and engineering firms and worked on a wide variety of design projects including hydraulic arms, lego robots and aluminum foil canoes. Each camper learned enough electronics to build an electronic keyboard to keep as a souvenir.
Camp was not all work and no play, however. Campers could choose to participate in a variety of recreational activities such as hiking, waterskiing, sailing and Frisbee golf.
Project Lead the Way Camp
Because several area school districts are starting Project Lead the Way this fall, this camp was offered as a way to jump start the Principles of Engineering class for 9th graders at Grand Rapids High School. This two day camp was led by the PLTW high school teachers and ICC engineering faculty. Student activities included spaghetti tower, robolab conveyor belt design and construction, electric boat design and race, and student computer presentations. Twenty-eight students participated.
STEM Camp- Mesabi Range, Eveleth Campus
Jeff Gregg, Recruiting and Marketing—Technical Programs
This year's theme was “Engineering, Motion, and Mining.” Curriculum included motors, magnetism, engineering, solar power and physics.
Students in grades 7 and 8 spent three days on campus working with hands-on science and engineering projects, participating in team building exercises, touring local industry and speaking with STEM career professionals. They built their very own solar powered cars and catapults and concluded the camp by showing off their projects to their parents.
Let the games begin! Mesabi Range STEM campers tested the effectiveness of their catapult construction.
Reaching for the Stars - Minnesota State Mankato
Students who completed grade 10 learned about the principles of atmospheric and space flight during a two week camp. The faculty kept lectures to a minimum and employed extensive experimental exercises and two highly involved team projects to teach various engineering concepts.
Activities also included a tour of the Mankato Airport, experience in a fly simulator and a short airplane ride.
Campers applied concepts learned during camp to design and build their own working models.
ZAP Camp- Minnesota State Mankato & South Central College
Judith Evans, Director of Marketing and Communications
While the theme of the camp was power and energy, the real goal of ZAP Camp was to get youth ages 11-13 excited about science, technology, engineering and math. Hands-on activities and dynamic demonstrations helped to alleviate some of the fear young people have about STEM subjects, while the projects challenged them to use problem-solving, teamwork and math skills. Participants explored automotive technology, manufacturing and design, alternative energy sources, and the laws of physics.
Reports from home were positive.
“[I] wanted to extend my gratitude again for a fine job you [and] the rest of the engineering camp staff did. It was impressive!” ~Mary B. Drummer
“Thanks so much for a wonderful week at camp. I have to say this was probably
the best camp Michael has been involved with. We were so pleased to have been a part of this camp and look forward to future offerings. Great job.”
~Tori Meyers
MNCEME REGIONAL BUSINESS FORUMS “Maximize Minnesota”
Eric Mittelstadt, CEO, NACFAM to Speak
An opportunity to max-up your business assets through a series of informational seminars and resource networks of nationally recognized educational and private institutions that focus on manufacturing and engineering.
>>Hear experts talk about advanced manufacturing and engineering technologies and the potential they bring to your business
>>Leverage your employees’ current skill levels through advanced training tailored to your business needs
>>Discover innovation and problem-solving through continuing education for yourself or your employees
>>Drive your own problem-solving with applied research partners
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Eric Mittelstadt, Chief Executive Officer for the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing, will expand NACFAM’s 2004 ground breaking report, Categories of Innovative and Potentially Disruptive Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, beyond the original seven critical areas of technological advancement.
Regional Business Forum
Thursday, November 15, Brooklyn Park, Northland Inn, 2:00-5:00PM
Spring Dates and Topics to Be Announced
MNCEME Advisory Board News
As you know, MNCEME strives to maintain board membership with a range of expertise and experience. We are proud to introduce four new representatives; each brings their own unique perspective and strengths to the organization. We asked them to share with us highlights of their professional background and ways in which they hope to help MNCEME in its mission. Here is what they had to say.
Debra Bultnick is the state liaison for manufacturing workforce development. “I connect people and organizations and best practices to facilitate appropriate, timely education and training for new and incumbent workforce in manufacturing.”
As a state representative on the MNCEME Advisory Board, Bultnick hopes “to effect tangible outcomes for manufacturers by leveraging my skills and knowledge, the reputation of Minnesota State University, Mankato, the capacity of community colleges, and expertise of community-based organizations. Minnesota needs to secure its manufacturing base to support local and regional economies. We must continue to offer advances in manufacturing technology and innovation with a prepared workforce.”
Mark Gillaspey has more than 20 years in the design, build, validation, and production transition of electromechanical systems, ranging from electronic safe and arm devices to unmanned fixed wing aircraft. Currently, he is a senior engineering manager and oversees a state-of-the-art prototype electronic fabrication/test facility. In addition, he serves as the chief engineer on an international early design/development program.
As a MNCEME Advisory Board representative for the manufacturing and electronic industry, Gillaspey hopes to “influence future curriculum, bring summer interns into ATK from both two- and four year programs, and communicate with local schools (Belle Plaine and Le Sueur) regarding the benefits of MNCEME programs.”
Jaime Nolan, CAE, has worked in association management since 1999 and was named the Executive Director of the Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association in 2007. As the Executive Director to the MPMA, she represents the day-to-day business issues facing members—primarily small to mid-sized manufacturing shops.
Nolan says, “Finding skilled and trained workers is an ongoing and very serious challenge facing many of Minnesota's precision manufacturing companies. It is my hope as an Advisory Board member to provide input and feedback that will assist MNCEME in their mission to increase interest in engineering and manufacturing careers and to assist Minnesota manufacturing to compete globally.”
Bruce Siebold spent 25 years at the University of Wisconsin-Stout where he served as a Business Professor {Marketing/Advertising/Management}. The last ten years he served as the dean of the College of Technology, Engineering and Management. In addition, Siebold has more than ten years of private sector business, the last seven being with Phillips Plastics where he headed up the new business development and R&D. Currently, he is the owner and President of Rusk Prairie Consulting.
As a professional with a combination of education and business experience, Siebold is prepared to “assist the MNCEME mission as an advisor in how best to interact and work with the business community to develop fundraising programs and strategic and long-range planning.”
Please join us in welcoming our newest members.
Thank You
Congratulations to Dr. Allen Goben, former Senior Executive at SAS Education Practice and new President/CEO of Hazard Community and Technical College in Kentucky. We were fortunate to have Dr. Goben serve on our Advisory Board for nearly 2 years. “I truly appreciate [his] significant contribution to the Center,” said Dr. Takamura, and we wish him all the best in his new endeavor”.
Note for Advisory Board Chair Denny Siemer
MNCEME Refines Objectives to Help Partners Adjust to Emerging and Disruptive Technologies
At the Semicon trade show in mid-July I attended a presentation on future trends in the electronics industry. One of the speakers, Mike Garner, Manager External Materials Research, Technology Strategy, Intel Corporation, made some predictions for the coming 10-20 years.
- A robotic gecko project, which the developers plan to make with 3D-printing technology. The twist is the electronics will be embedded—not an add-on, mind you but embedded—as part of the basic printing process. This robot will simply walk off the table by itself when the printing is complete.
- Software that will develop its own hardware.
- Scrubbers—methods of scrubbing the environment to eliminate pollution. That is to say, we won’t be worried about pollution, pollute all you want, we have ways to eliminate its danger.
- Biology merging with electronics. Currently, electronics can be built as small as 22 nm and biostructures can be enlarged to 22 nm. At this point it will be possible to interface electronic circuits with neurons.
As I looked around during his presentation, I saw several persons taking notes and others simply listening. Nobody seemed surprised.
I thought about the neural/electronics interface and a bionic eye. If one was built why stop with the current visual bandwidth of the human eye? Why not extend it to include infrared and UV? That way we could navigate better in the dark, sense hot surfaces without having to touch them, and know that the UV index was dangerous before getting sunburn. Will the brain accept this additional input?
Being something of a skeptic, I spent some time surfing the web to see if there were references to this and the other topics. What I found was that, if anything, the speaker was a bit on the conservative side. I’m including some of the links in case you’re interested. robotics websites
As information about emerging and disruptive technologies is disseminated, it raises many questions for MNCEME’s industrial partners. How will the emerging technology impact our businesses? Will our current products be obsolete? Can existing products benefit by the inclusion of some of these new things? How will the requirements of our customer base change and, will they still need us? What new products can we develop that fit into this new marketplace?
Part of MNCEME’s mission is to support industry as it addresses these emerging and disruptive technologies. This fall, MNCEME is offering four regional business forums. These forums will provide opportunities for our industrial partners to explore their concerns and to network with nationally recognized educational and private manufacturing and engineering institutions.
Industry also wonders if our educational system will be up to the task of turning out the technically competent people we need. Our educational partners must ask themselves, Will we remain competent in the realm of technical education? How can we ensure our competency? We need to prepare students to become technically competent employees long before the need may exist.
Another of MNCEME’s goals is to help educational institutions identify industry needs and then increase the pipeline of interested and qualified people to work in the areas of science, engineering, technology and math. As part of that effort, this summer MNCEME co-sponsored camps that served over 200 youth.
Increasing the pipeline of interested and qualified students is one way to build a competent workforce. However, effective forecasting is vital to ensure that human resources are not wasted, as both industry and education depend on the forecasting of trends as they gear up to meet emerging needs.
This list of questions for industry and education can go on, of course, and we need to develop a system to capture this kind of data; extract the data relevant to our interests, needs, and competencies; and develop appropriate objectives and strategies.
The July/August 2007 issue of Harvard Business Review contains an article entitled “The Six Rules for Effective Forecasting” by Paul Saffo.
Mr. Saffo states that the forecaster’s task is to map uncertainty, for in a world where our actions in the present influence the future, uncertainty is opportunity.
He also points out that the consumer of the forecast must understand enough of the forecast process and logic to make an independent assessment of its quality. The wise consumer of a forecast is not a trusting bystander but a participant and critic.
As you know, the MNCEME Advisory Board maintains a subcommittee dedicated to emerging and disruptive technology. We have made some progress to date, at least in my thinking, and we are now better able to define the objectives:
- To provide MN businesses with information on disruptive technology so that they can make plans to accommodate it
- To provide educational partners with information on what preparation needs to be made so that graduates are able to perform in the work environment of the future
- To provide prospective students with an objective assessment of future job opportunities
The subcommittee is looking at available tools that we can use to accomplish the tasks. Business intelligence software is available that can assist in this process. At this point, it is rather expensive so we’re looking into partnering with someone in the MNCEME and MNSCU system to spread the cost out.
However, as the author of the HBR article states, we need to be critical consumers of the information and it looks like that will be a training issue for all of us. This is one of the things I like about MNCEME, nobody should stop learning!!
I’d appreciate your comments. See you all at the Fall 2007 Advisory Board meeting.
Note for the Executive Director
Youth Engineering Camps Serve Vital Role in Increasing the Pipeline
An informal survey among MSU faculties last year asked, “What turned you on” to engineering /science? Although 14% of respondents mentioned their high school teachers’ influence, many responses started with “When I was a child…” suggesting seeds were planted much younger than high school. One respondent wrote “When I was 8, my older sister dissected an earthworm she picked up off the street to see how it differed from the preserved worm she’d dissected in biology. I watched her absolutely enthralled.” She eventually became a biologist.
Although there is no definitive agreement among researches about when to introduce or guide young students toward STEM careers, it seems clear that we should start earlier than high school. MNCEME promotes Project Lead the Way as the primary STEM K-12 education tool and its middle school program is expanding rapidly. In addition, this summer MNCEME co-sponsored camps that targeted middle school students.
Evaluations show that our initial K-12 STEM summer camps got off to a very good start. One noted common denominator was parents who were motivated to send their children to STEM-related camps. Next, we must find away to reach out more students—especially girls, underrepresented populations, and students whose parents do not consider STEM as their children’s future direction. We may also want to consider separate boys and girls camps as there is documented evidence that boys and girls learn very differently.
All MNCEME sponsored summer camps delivered wonderful opportunities and were either offered free of charge or provided scholarships so that no one was denied a camp experience because of inability to pay. We will continue our efforts to expand the summer camp program and provide opportunities to as many youth as possible, thus increasing the pipeline.
In Brief
MNCEME Partner, Itasca Community College, Receives $600,000 NSF Grant
The National Science Foundation awarded the engineering program at Itasca Community College a $600,000 grant. The grant will be used to implement a scholarship program and continue to recruit and support STEM students.
A pioneer for engineering learning communities at the community college, ICC has a tradition of actively engaging recruits and mentoring students. The engineering program continually modifies and improves their efforts to meet the needs of the students. As the number of students in the program increased, faculty noticed that more students were struggling financially. Tuition is becoming less affordable for community college students. Some students have even been forced to ‘stop out’ of the program while they worked to earn enough tuition money to finish.
This 4-yr NSF grant will allow the engineering program at ICC to award scholarships totaling $130,000 plus provide $10,000 for student activities. An initial benefit to individual students, we all win when we increase the pipeline of qualified people in STEM-related careers and improve our ability to compete in a global market.
|
