FLATE & FloridaMakes Sponsor LIMS Edge Appliance Training

Several State College Engineering Technology faculty with their students came for training and to pick up one of the LIMS devices to take back to their college. The training was hosted by the Engineering Technology program at Hillsborough Community College on the Brandon Campus.

The Learning Integrated Manufacturing System (LIMS) provides the latest Industry 4.0 IoT Edge Platform for developing applications to bring your manufacturing system into your enterprise. The LIMS system includes a complete rules engine, over 50 I/O Interfaces, analytics along with statistics engines, and over a decade of example turn-key applications to get you started.

Adding the LIMs device to the ET programs will allow students to explore the domain of edge computing for manufacturing. LIMs is in an industrial package that collects data as the user needs and includes a complete rules engine, many Interfaces, analytics along with statistics engines. It also has over a decade of example turn-key applications to get you started.

Faculty and students at each participating college will get a LIMS device and stipends for both faculty and student/s to develop a simple demonstration project with a short video and written demonstration brief. Some projects will be showcased at the 2022 MakeMore Summit hosted by FloridaMakes (www.floridamakes.com) and the Fall 2022 ET Forum (http://fl-ate.org/programs/e-t-forum/).

Watch the LIMS Training Video from the FLATE training meeting at Hillsborough Community College last month (January 2022) for basic instruction on the capabilities of the LIMS box and how to get started using them in your ET Program or manufacturing facility.

To learn more about AMI and the LIMs device, visit their website (www.advmfg.org).

To learn more about the American Works funded project that is engaging the Florida colleges ET programs, contact Dr. Marilyn Barger (Marilyn.barger@flate.org)

A.S. Degree Paths to ET Bachelor's Degrees

Sharing some interesting data about the world of Community Colleges offering bachelor’s degrees in various Engineering Technology disciplines. According to ASEE, 39 of the 254 colleges and universities award such degrees. In 2020, over 6% of all the B.S. degrees in Engineering Technologies were awarded at community colleges. The numbers might seem small, however, in rural areas, community colleges produce about half of all ET B.S. Degrees. Here is the breakdown by discipline. We are excited to see the large percentage of Electromechanical Instrumentation and Maintenance BS ET Degrees as many of those are awarded in Florida through the state and community college system through a number of our colleges offering Engineering Technology associate and bachelor's degrees. 

Percent Bachelor ET Degree awarded by Community Colleges across the U.S.:

Engineering Technology - General	3.1%
Construction Engineering Technology	4.2%
Industrial Production Technology	4.6%
Engineering-Related Technology	6.7%
Quality Control & Safety Technology	7.6%
Civil Engineering Technology	8.8%
Electrical Engineering Technology	9.6%
Environmental Control Technology	11%
Architectural Engineering Technology	14.3%
Computer Engineering Technology	18.9%
Electromechanical Instrumentation and Maintenance Technology	23.5%

If you are a member of ASEE (American Society of Engineering Education), you have access to this in the November-December 2022 Prism magazine.

FLATE Secondary Educator of the Year 2013 Award Winner highlighted in the MSSC Community News!

We are excited to share that one of our past FLATE educator of the year awardees has been featured in this month's MSSC Community News. Bruce (Dale) Toney was teaching manufacturing at Marion Technical Institute (MTI) when he won the award in 2013 and was one of the first Florida high school teachers to adopt the MSSC CPT (Certified Production Technician) credential for his students. Dale worked several years to get the right flow through the four credentials as well as good alignment with the high school curriculum. Dale always used creative design, build, and test projects in his program to make the manufacturing and technical skills meaningful for the students in his program.

After winning the FLATE Educator award, Dale got involved with the Florida Association for Career and Technical Education (FACTE) division for Industrial and Technology Education (FAITE) and has served as president of that FACTE division for several years. FAITE [ http://www.faite.us/ ] offers professional development workshops and tours annually at the FACTE conference.

Several years ago, Dale moved to Belleview High School (also in Marion County) where he teaches in the Robotics Automation and Design (RAD) CTE program. The RAD program is an Advanced Manufacturing program that uses industrial trainers to prepare Secondary students for highly skilled employment. Students can earn 2 industry Certifications recognized nationally. They are SolidWorks, a 3D Cad program, and the MSSC Certified Production Technician certification.  

Dale's RAD program at Belleview is featured in the February MSSC Community News - click here to read the article. P.S. – be sure to watch the short video at the link in the MSSC highlight story to an awesome project his students designed for the exceptional students at a local elementary school.

Congratulations Dale for this recognition from MSSC and thank you for all you do for manufacturing education in Florida!

Celebrating Career and Technical Education (CTE) in Florida

CTE programs can generate knowledge and innovation to spark economic growth!

On February 1, 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced February as Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month.

CTE serves as the backbone of a strong, well-educated workforce, offers lifelong learning opportunities, and contributes to Florida's leadership in the national and international marketplace. With the help of partners in education, business and industry, and trade associations, CTE prepares both youth and adults for a wide range of careers in the 21st-century economy, helping students experience the academic and technical skills required to be successful in today’s economy. These careers may require varying levels of education—from high school and postsecondary certificates to two- and four-year college degrees.

In Florida, secondary schools in all 67 school districts, 28 Florida colleges, and 48 technical colleges and centers offer high-quality CTE coursework, certifications, skills-based education, degrees. Currently, there are 17 career clusters throughout the state. The manufacturing career cluster incorporates six career pathways to include:

1) Production,

2) Manufacturing Production Process Development,

3) Maintenance, Installation & Repair,

4) Quality Assurance,

5) Logistics & Inventory Control, and

6) Health, Safety & Environmental Assurance.

With Florida’s Perkins V-Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century implementation plan, approved by the US. Department of Education in June 2020, Florida students have now, more than ever, the opportunity to participate in quality CTE programs.

FLATE with the support of the Florida Department of Educations and FloridaMakes continues to strengthen quality CTE programs, providing resources for educators, students, and industry. Educational resources are intended to increase students’ awareness of and interest in careers in the field of manufacturing. Resources are designed to engage students with fun, but real, hands-on scenarios relevant to manufacturers in Florida, integrating the academic and technical skills required in today’s high-technology manufacturing.

For more information about educational resources visit FLATE.org, MadeinFlorida.org, and FLDOE.org/CareerTechEdu.