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October is right around the corner and it’s time to celebrate!   You can find Florida "Manufacts" on the FloridaMakes website to add to your own local manufacturing info facts. Here are some of the statewide facts you can find under FLORIDA MANUFACTS.     In April 2018, manufacturing had 375,500 jobs in Florida, an increase of 12,300 jobs over the year. Manufacturin g has gained jobs for 88 consecutive months, after losing jobs over the year for more than four years. Manufacturing is 4.3% of total nonagricultural employment in Florida Miami-Dade, Pinellas and Orange counties contributed over 30,000 manufacturing jobs each, while Broward, Hillsborough, Duval, and Brevard counties contributed over 20,000 jobs each, The Average wage for Manufacturing in Florida is $57,884.00 , which is the third largest in the state for all industry sectors and is $10,829.00 above the average wage in the state.    (Data source: Florida Department of Economic Opportunity) In addit...

In July, The Henry Ford and Litton Entertainment announced the winners for The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation Teacher Innovator Awards. The awards recognize the educators who are using the classroom to inspire innovation, creativity, the problem-solving and critical thinking among their students. Ten teachers were named Grand Prize winners another ten were first place winners. Bruce (Dale) Toney, Advanced Manufacturing teacher in Ocala was a Grand Prize Winner and the only Florida teacher among the 20 awardees.   In 2017, Dale Toney was also named the FLATE’s Secondary Manufacturing Educator of the Year.   Congratulations to Dale. The winners were selected by judges, including Innovation Nation co-host Albert Lawrence, who chose teachers who demonstrated the habits of an innovator. Teachers who inspired their students to challenge the rules and take risks, who demonstrated how to be collaborative and empathetic, and taught the value of learning from failure and staying curious...

Machining Technology students and staff recently celebrated the grand opening of their renovated 4,000 square foot Machining Technology Lab at Bayside High in Palm Bay. In attendance at the Ribbon Cutting event on September 7 th were State Senator Debbie Mayfield, Palm Bay Mayor Capote, School Board members and Superintendent, Assistant Superintendents, Career & Technical Education staff, Advisory Team members, and students. T he space houses four large machines in the production lab, two computer-controlled lathes and two milling machines. The school also is home to a welding lab, four 3D printers and a 72” smart board. Dennis Soboleski, Career and Technical Education resource teacher, said: “Until now, students only had limited access to a professional production area. Students were able to design, model and simulate machining, but had no consistent opportunities for hands- on experiences. This space will allow machining students to receive firsthand training.” The only program ...

The last week of September is Deaf Awareness Week (also known as the International Week of the Deaf). The NSF-ATE community’s go-to resource for working with deaf and hard of hearing students is DeafTEC.   DeafTEC: Technological Education Center for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students  is a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education National Center of Excellence.  Its goal is to successfully integrate more deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals into the workplace in highly-skilled technician jobs in which these individuals are currently underrepresented and underutilized.  Check out these deaf and hard-of-hearing (deaf/hh) STEM professionals in manufacturing careers on our website at http://www.deaftec.org/stem/professionals. For information on the best practices for teaching deaf/hh students, visit the DeafTEC website at  www.deaftec.org/resources . If you are interested in hiring or are working with a deaf/hh individual­­­, you might be...

There are a lot of very good online resources for manufacturing and technology educators. on Big Bad Tech site,  there over 500 free online lectures and illustrated example problems for electro-mechanical (and related) technology courses.    https://www.youtube.com/user/bigbadtech. Use these free materials to supplement face to face classroom instruction or textbook assignments. For one, Columbia Gorge Community College’s Electro-Mechanical Technology program has adopted a flipped classroom approach to teaching using this material. The online lectures are intended to accompany a regular hands-on workshop or lab where students work in a collaborative environment with the guidance of an instructor. Students using online lectures are able to rewind, revisit, and review any material they might have missed. Additionally, online lectures allow a degree of flexibility for non-traditional students with work or family obligations, or incumbent workers wishing to expand their ...

Two interesting audio events occurred in my life this past month.  The first was a radio story about the only surviving American car manufacturer in an Ohio city that use to have all brands of American cars made in that city.  During the broadcast, the host explained that this manufacturing facility was still going strong but that there was a restructured pay and work assignment plan in place.  The discussion about hourly pay rates adjusted to today's skilled labor marketplace was interesting but the part that really caught my ear was an interview with a new to the plant but an experienced electrician.   The interview proceeded with some discussion about how that electrician felt about the new job and pay scale. The ear catcher was when the radio show host ended the story with the comment that this electrician now spends most of his time "working on robots".   The second audio event of interest to me happened this month at different meetings that involved indust...

Gear up for SkillsUSA 2019 The SkillsUSA registration site is officially open for the new school year. Chapter advisors who need assistance with SkillsUSA membership or registration, hotline operators are ready to answer questions about starting a new chapter, ways to engage chapter members or strategies to strengthen an existing chapter. Operators are on call 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday (Eastern time). To reach the hotline, call 844-875-4557 or email operators@skillsusa.org . You can also chat online on the membership registration site. Professional members receive these great benefits: 2018-19 SkillsUSA Championships Technical Standards. The latest edition will be available by Oct. 1. The official competition guide for the SkillsUSA Championships contains rules for all national competitive events, including an overview, lists of technical skills and knowledge required, clothing requirements, eligibility and equipment list...

The MSSC has recently announced the release of its complete hands-on advanced manufacturing  CPT+ Skill Boss Training and Certification program.  Built upon MSSC's well-established  Certified Production Technician (CPT) , this new program is designed to prepare certificants with the next generation skills to work in a computer-driven, data-intensive advanced manufacturing workplace. The centerpiece of this new program is a transformational training device, invented by  Amatrol , that enables MSSC to offer hands-on training and assessment as an enhancement to its signature CPT training and certification system.  "Skill Boss" is a computer-controlled machine that performs a wide variety of functions aligned with 55+ skills drawn from the MSSC's National Production Standards.   The "Skill Boss" device is portable, compact, and "classroom friendly." Additionally, it is designed to cover many of the core technical competencies related to advanced manufa...

In 2009, several Centers funded through the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program worked collaboratively to develop a conference that would broaden the impact across ATE supported industry areas. This annual High-Impact Technology (HI-TEC) conference has drawn participants mainly from the ATE program's community of centers and projects. Since them, every year people from around the nation get together during this magnificent event to open new opportunities and develop new partnerships and focuses on the preparation needed by the existing and future workforce for companies in the high-tech sectors that drive our nation’s economy. HI-TEC has served as the bridge to broadening and increase the impact of ATE centers and projects across the nation. With no doubt, the theme of the 2018 HI-TEC conference "Partnering with Industry for the New American Workforce" was a great success. The conference was held in Miami Beach on July 23 to 26 and provided opportunities for pa...