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FLATE, the Florida-based National Science Foundation Regional Center of Excellence, together with its network of statewide industry partners, FloridaMakes, and Hillsborough Manufacturing Alliance worked cohesively to coordinate the 2017 industry tours and events across the state. As you may remember 2017 Manufacturing Day was impacted by inclement weather, some Florida Manufacturing Day (MFG Day) 2017 tours originally scheduled for October were postponed to 2018. Additional MFG Day post surveys received by FLATE in January and February 2018 revealed exciting numbers demonstrating, once again, great impact in Florida.  Based on our MFG day/Month statewide industry tours data base, 5,070 students, 120 parents and chaperons, 359 educators across Florida participated in approximate 165 Made in Florida industry tours to 123 high-tech industry sites ( including 5 virtual tours.  100% of responses to the surveys stated the tour was a good use of company time and resources. There was an i

Middleton High School ( http://middleton.mysdhc.org ), a Pre-Collegiate STEM Academy, would like to invite you to our 8th annual “STEM Professional Association Event” from 6:00-7:30 PM on Thursday, March 22th, 2018. This STEM Professional Association Event is held on an annual basis to connect Tampa Bay area students, parents, educators and professionals in order to promote student interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. A robotics demonstration will be conducted by Middleton High School robotics club students, winners of the 2012 World FTC Robotics Championship and 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 Florida State FTC Robotics Championships! Middleton's Electrathon Car, powered only by commercial rechargeable batteries weighing no more than 73 pounds, designed and built by students will be on display. Here is the evening's agenda: 5:30 - 6:00 Check-In / Networking / Refreshments 6:00 - 6:15 Welcome / Announcements 6:15 - 6:45 STEM Presentation / Q&

Look no farther than your nearby State or Community College that offers the A.S Engineering Technology. During the 2016-17 academic year, the Engineering Technology (ET) A.S. Program Student Enrollment grew to 2,062 across the state.   Find out where to look for your next technician workforce!   Check out the many details about manufacturing related enrollment and completions in Florida by downloading the posted report “2012-2017 FLDOE Student Enrollment Completion Trend Study” on the FLATE website under Engineering Technology Education (under the big Florida map) It contains break out data by degrees and certificates for enrollment and completers and also contains the 5-year trend data for related secondary and post-secondary programs in the state. Here are some A.S. ET program highlights: ·          Number of Colleges Adopting the ET Program 19 (23 in Spring 2018), out of Florida's 28 Community and State Colleges ·          Total ET Program Credit Certificate (CCC) Student Enr

“On-Time and Drug Free” is often the first pass response to the open-ended question to a manufacturer: “What do you expect of a new employee”.   Important qualities of a new employee but not new or needed information.   FLATE’s quest to help structure the CTE and State College system education options into a platform to create a world-class manufacturing workforce in Florida goes way beyond the high level of social skills and work ethics standards expected of that workforce.   Avenues for instilling these qualities are already resident in the nationally recognized manufacturing related credentials included within the Florida Department of Education guided career paths.   In addition, the rigor and continuous demands of the Associate of Science degree in Engineering Technology assure an employer that the path to needed work based social and interaction skills are in place and practiced by every graduate.   The “Drug Free” requirement reflects a serious social problem at the national lev

  The MEP National Network is a unique public-private partnership that delivers comprehensive, proven solutions to U.S. manufacturers, fueling growth and advancing U.S. manufacturing. The MEP is focused on helping small and medium-sized manufacturers generate business results and thrive in today’s technology-driven economy, the MEP National Network comprises the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP), the 51 MEP Centers located in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, and over 1,300 trusted advisors and experts at more than 400 MEP service locations, providing any U.S. manufacturer with access to resources they need to succeed. Each MEP Center is a partnership between the federal government and a variety of public or private entities, including state, university, and nonprofit organizations. This diverse Network assists manufacturers in communities across the country. For every $1.00 of federal investment 1 , the MEP National Network ge

                           FLATE’s focus is all about manufacturing excellence in Florida.  FLATE FOCUS is one way we keep you in the loop.  This manufacturing excellence series indicates what FLATE is doing to support manufacturer’s goals for product quality and production excellence. Last month we indicated that a partnership between FloridaMakes and FLATE is being developed.  Both organizations have mission elements that deal with manufacturing workforce development and both draw resources from the federal government to accomplish their goals.  FloridaMakes executes the United State Department of Commerce Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Center in Florida, while FLATE is also the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Center for Manufacturing (NSF-ATE) in Florida.  This partnership with the long-term goal to develop a world-class technical workforce will be the human resource backbone for Florida manufacturing.  The union also allows the blending of fo

Last week, Florida educators interested in manufacturing education attended a 1½ FLATE workshop about new aspects of the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council Certified Production Technician (MSSC-CPT) credential. A packed agenda was centered around the undated standards from the MSSC Panel of Experts for the CPT as well as a new hands-on tool to support MSSC student learning, “Skills Boss”.   The integrated small trainer was designed to provide hands on activities that support the MSSC workplace standards.   The Skills Boss will be especially helpful for those who have little or no experience in the manufacturing workplace, including high school students. The workshop included six hours of hands on activities led by D.C. Jaeger and Amatrol personnel working at 4 stations on exercises that support each of the four MSSC assessments. An industry panel of employers at lunch on Friday detailed how some companies used MSSC CPT, their need for skilled, knowledgeable workforce, and how they

2018 FLATE Awards deadline for nominations are coming soon April 13, 2018 ! Send in your Nominations FLATE's Distinguished Manufacturing Service Recognition Program, hosted by the Florida Association for Career and Technical Education-FACTE, brings recognition to both secondary and post-secondary educators as well as recognizes key personnel for outstanding contributions to promote technology education and career awareness in support of manufacturing. Awards Categories 2018 FLATE Distinguished Manufacturing Secondary Educator-of-the-Year Award Recognizes a high school educator for outstanding contributions to manufacturing and/or engineering technology education. Recipients of this award must have made significant contributions toward innovative, unique and novel programs and have shown a professional commitment towards manufacturing industry. 2018 FLATE Distinguished Manufacturing Post-Secondary Educator-of-the-Year Award Recognizes a community college or technical school educator