From the Executive Director's Desk: Farewell to FLATE’s STEM Educator Extraordinaire

……..So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good-bye! 

We at FLATE are bidding a bitter-sweet farewell, as Dr. Marie Boyette, FLATE Associate

Director since 2009 retired this month! Marie’s efforts to continuously improve not only our products but also our processes, lay in her efforts to increase and better define our impact. Her tenure with FLATE has been defined by her strong dedication to FLATE and we will surely miss her.

Marie was a STEM educator extraordinaire. She consistently reminded us to keep our eyes on girls and women as an important target of our recruiting and outreach efforts. To that end, she developed several hands-on learning experiences for both traditional age and adult students, college credit for certifications, transferability to B.S degrees and high skill, high wage jobs. 

Those were just a few of her favorite things (to do)…..

Marie’s foray with FLATE began in 2008 and early in 2009 when she reached out to me seeking to change gears in her career and work more with adult learners and community colleges. When an opportunity opened up in Fall 2009, we talked again, and she accepted the position to serve as FLATE’s Associate Director with the expectation that she would lead and transform our data collection strategies and develop good workplace processes. I can’t remember too many times when she said “we can’t do that!” She came in eager to learn the work of FLATE and the NSF ATE Centers to improve advanced technological education.

Dr. Boyette envisioned and led many innovative projects one of which was our highly sought after “summer teacher camp” which she hosted for seven years. She developed strong relationships with the Florida Department of Education which culminated in our frequently-requested, annual Engineering Technology Statewide Enrollment Report. Marie’s expertise in data collection strategies streamlined many of FLATE’s curriculum, professional development and outreach efforts. These were critical components in leveraging FLATE’s vision and mission and reflecting the Center’s impact on technician education throughout Florida and ultimately in showcasing the validity of these efforts to one of our key stakeholders, the National Science Foundation. She oversaw the collection and analysis of our Manufacturing Day in Florida student/industry tour surveys, authored/co-authored and published a number of articles in professional journals. Most importantly, she kept myself and the rest of the FLATE staff strongly focused in supporting our goal, all the while injecting her own version of humor to our team.

Marie is personable, professional, perceptive, persistent, polite, prompt, and progressive! (And,

we prevail on you all to provide more “P’s”!!). She will be deeply missed by all of us here at FLATE and at HCC, as well as by many colleagues and friends across the Florida Engineering Technology and the NSF ATE community. We wish her many years ahead filled with fun, good health, peacefulness and relaxation, as she delves into her bucket list of adventures that include, but not limited to lots of swimming with a 6-year old grandson, aspiring to wear the brown of a forest ranger at Pisgah National Forest (working in the woods she said, not in the gift shop), auditioning for Survivor, and perhaps at some point in the not-too-distant future throwing her hat in the ring of external evaluators for NSF projects. Above all, she hopes to cross paths in the future with many of those she’s come to know through her position with FLATE, and would like to keep in touch through LinkedIn.

Continuing on…..I invite you to read the rest of the stories in this special “Girls in STEM” themed edition of the FLATE Focus. As always send in your thoughts and comments to news@fl-ate.org. Connect with us socially on Facebook, LinkedIn, or tweet us @Made_InFlorida using the hastag of the month #GirlsLoveSTEM

FLATE’s NEW Women in Manufacturing Video Explores Gender Equality and Diversity in Manufacturing

FLATE, the Florida-based National Science Foundation Regional Center of Excellence, recently produced

and released a NEW "Women in Manufacturing” video. The video is an extension of FLATE’s role in leading initiatives across Florida that enable and empower women/girls to be excited and engaged in STEM and manufacturing. The “Women in Manufacturing” Video explores a hotly debated, but relevant topic on gender equality, or the lack thereof, and diversity in the manufacturing workforce. The Video is currently posted on FLATE’s YouTube Channel https://youtu.be/rKW7DslaZAs, and is produced through a collaboration with the Scientific League, a Florida-based multi-media production company.

The all NEW, Women in Manufacturing video chronicles the journey of women, starting with the onset of World War I in 1917, when women entered, or were forced to enter the manufacturing workforce, and transports viewers to the present where women increasingly comprise a steady part of the manufacturing workforce occupying leadership roles in the global manufacturing marketplace. The Video is a journey in time as it provides a historical perspective on the challenges women have faced, continue to address and/or are beginning to dissipate as more women join the manufacturing workforce changing the status quo and face of the manufacturing industry itself.  It even provides a peep into an imaginary timeline, where in 2050 women could potentially represent 50% of the manufacturing workforce.

The Women in Manufacturing video is a captivating projection of the changing face of the manufacturing workforce. It outlines the diverse perspectives of women from a dozen companies across Florida who are currently employed in the manufacturing sector. The video features personal accounts of women, from the factory floor right up to the C suite level, who share their views about their journey/pathway into manufacturing. These women provide first-hand perspectives about their experience not only as engineers, but as technicians and administrators and the richness in the diversity of their individual experiences/successes.

Despite the set-backs, in the United States, more than three million women have proven that it is possible succeed in the manufacturing industry. The video showcases how women have sovercome some of these obstacles through sheer hard-work, competence and perseverance. The Video also highlights the benefits and rewarding aspects of being involved in manufacturing. It sheds light on some of the factors that have motivated women for the last 100 years to be a part of the manufacturing workforce, and how women have found fulfilment in the diversity of skills, knowledge and talent they bring to the workplace. 

While women have come a long way, the video drives home a key point that there is still a lot of work to be done in the quest for equality in the workforce. Together we can empower the next generation of young women who represent the “I Am a Woman with a Career in Manufacturing” mantra that could end the gender inequality of women in manufacturing in America.

To view the Women in Manufacturing video head on over to FLATE’s YouTube Channel at https://youtu.be/rKW7DslaZAs. Later this summer, stay tuned for the DVD version of Women in Manufacturing which will include additional interviews and other goodies. You can also access additional resources on FLATE’s websites www.madeinflorida.org and www.fl-ate.org, or contact Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org.  

Q & A with STEP Ahead Awardees from Jabil Circuit in St. Petersburg, FL

FLATE has been a big proponent for promoting #WomenInSTEM. Over the years the Center

has not only formulated curriculum and projects that are geared to encourage women to pursue STEM based educational pathways and careers, but has led several initiatives that have highlighted the pertinent role women have played as leaders in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. One of the efforts FLATE has continued to champion and support is the STEP Ahead Awards, a national effort spearheaded by the Manufacturing Institute, to recognize the prominent role women here in Florida and across the nation have played and continue to exert in American Manufacturing.

This month we highlight two of the nine women in Florida, who were among the 130 women nationally, honored as a STEP Ahead awardee by the Manufacturing Institute. Kristen Widunas, is the Site Operations Manager at Jabil Circuit, Inc. in St. Petersburg, FL. Toni Jones currently serves as the Senior Manager of Employee Engagement at Jabil Circuit, Inc. Through a quick Q & A session conducted by FLATE, we look at their journeys into manufacturing, get their personal insights on what the award means to them, and how they plan to continue to affect positive changes in Manufacturing, and continue to serve as role models for other women in STEM to emulate.

Can you tell me a little about yourself and your interest in manufacturing?
Toni Jones: I have been working in manufacturing since 1978, first building and

inspecting substrates under magnification; then moving to a military defense corporation as an electrical technician with both component and PCBA level assemblies. My career took off after joining Jabil in 1984 when electronics and processes were changing at the speed of light - all new and exciting - never had a dull moment in my 32 years here!

Kristen Widunas: I went to school for engineering and since I was young was always curious about how things went together and were made. I knew I wanted to do something with science and math in highschool so I pursued engineering. To top it off, I went down the path of Chemical Engineering which was predominantly male students. My grandfather worked in manufacturing after the war and so I also feel a special connection to manufacturing knowing it was something my grandfather did and loving seeing things come together to make a product. It is a career that offers so many avenues to pursue for advancement or trying different fields that you can stay engaged with the work.

What does the STEP Ahead Award mean to you?
Toni Jones: The STEP award to me has been a wonderful and very meaningful acknowledgment of all the things I have helped create and been part of, especially around the recognition of mentoring and sharing knowledge with the other women in our organization.

Kristen Widunas: It’s a great honor but also a great responsibility knowing that people have believed I have made a great impact in manufacturing for other women, but knowing it doesn’t stop there and that I need to continue to work towards helping other women achieve their career goals and aspirations and to keep more women coming into the industry.

Since the awards ceremony, what have you/your company done to recognize your STEP award?
Toni Jones: I have been featured in internal global communications, & local news articles. We are scheduling our annual women's meeting and will feature STEP as part of the agenda.

Kristen Widunas: There have been some interviews and some stories published on Jabil Joules site. I’ve shared the experience with my kids and friends promoting the things that STEP and the Manufacturing Institute have done.

Why do you think it is important for women to be engaged in STEM and manufacturing?
Toni Jones: There are many, many different paths in manufacturing for women. Women bring great perspective and a style that "engages" employees. They can help move the needle in a big way when addressing one of the most significant challenges all companies are facing today - work life balance.

Kristen Widunas: Women bring a different perspective and have different ideas. They sometimes feel that they can’t do more because they have to juggle career, home, kids and so they don’t always pursue more. The more we promote work/life balance and help them see that they can take on challenging careers in manufacturing and be there for their families and be engaged with school activities and sports activities, the more they will try and take on more challenging roles and bring the strengths that women possess to advancing manufacturing. Whether it be through creativity, or helping foster better employee engagement, or different ideas – women have a different perspective that is valuable in manufacturing.

What are some strategies industry can employ to get more women engaged in Manufacturing and STEM?
Toni Jones: I think it is critically important to engage girls in elementary grades on the possibilities - it isn't all turning wrenches and working with dirty machines! BUT... more importantly, I think a big miss is not educating our teachers on bias, conscious, unconscious - verbally and non-verbally!

Kristen Widunas: Continue to find ways to help women see what careers are available, help promote work/life balance, time sharing, and recognizing them for the diversity they bring to manufacturing. Getting more publicity out there for the youth is key as well. The engineering commercials for girls that came out a few years ago were great. STEM/STEAM programs in our schools is another great area that the industry can reach more females at an earlier age before they start deciding what they want to do when they grow up.

In terms of the awards ceremony itself, do you have any special recollection from the event?
Toni Jones: It was a wonderful event, very well done...most meaningful was the fact that our table consisted of the other women nominated from our company and the leaders who nominated them!

Kristen Widunas: I really enjoyed the whole event, meeting other women, hearing their stories, seeing how each of us contribute. It helps generate new ideas to take back to Jabil. I really enjoyed hearing the story from the women that created the tinker toys for girls, I could relate to a lot of what she had been through in school and her career.

Additional thoughts/comments
Toni Jones: Looking back over my career, I am very happy that I have such a positive effect on so many people. If I'm honest...I never thought about it much, it's just my personality to brings folks along and I think my love for manufacturing comes through. I would encourage leaders to make mentoring and really "caring" about inclusiveness a formal program. I have been very fortunate to have honest, courageous leaders throughout my career that are a big part of my success.

Kristen Widunas: Talking about the Award with other women to get more awareness to the award and the purpose behind it has been a rewarding experience.

For more information and to learn about the 2016 STEP Ahead Honorees and Emerging Leaders visit the Manufacturing Institute’s Women in Manufacturing STEP Ahead program page. For FLATE’s STEM-based programs for women and girls contact Executive Director of FLATE, Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org. Stay tuned for follow-up stories on additional awardees in the next edition(s) of the FLATE Focus. 

Industry Tours Spark Girls’ Interest and Awareness about Manufacturing

Since 2005, FLATE has facilitated close to 500 tours to 234 high-tech, manufacturing facilities throughout Florida for almost 15,000 students, and more than 1,600 educators and parents. These tours provide students, teachers and parents with the opportunity to have their eyes opened to the exciting and lucrative world of manufacturing and the many, varied careers the industry offers. One of FLATE’s goals has been to provide students with exposure to real Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) workplaces, primarily those in manufacturing. Students are surveyed after the tours so data can be gathered to discover what the students experienced from their own point of view and to help streamline and improve tours in the future.

FLATE has always been committed to serving underrepresented and minority groups, targeting girls and women in particular. Last

year (2015), the decision was made to analyze data collected from students participating in statewide, Manufacturing Day and Month tours (October) to find out exactly what girls specifically, were saying about their tour experiences. Of the 4,770 students who participated in a 2015 MFG Day and/or Made in Florida industry tours, FLATE received 2,076 student surveys. Based on the tabulated surveys, nearly 98% of the students stated the tours helped them learn about technologies used in advanced manufacturing industries and manufactured products. Approximately 96% of students agreed the tours gave them new information about careers in advanced manufacturing. Nearly 92% of the students surveyed also agreed that the tours helped them understand how STEM subjects are put to work in advanced manufacturing industries. 

In analyzing gender-based responses, there was a 116% increase in the number of girls considering a career in advanced manufacturing before and after the tour. Of the total number of students participating, only 30% were female, reiterating the need for more outreach to women and girls to engage them in STEM and manufacturing. Particular attention was paid to responses to the question, “What did you like most about the tour?” Data is still being analyzed to identify main response themes and categories, but a few samples of girls’ comments are shown below:

• I enjoyed learning about the process of making a product that helps our country! It helps me understand more about the world.
• It was very educational, we saw samples of what the machines make as a visual
  
  representation and it was really cool to see what they make. We saw how the machine works.
• The machines are cool, and they can build anything. The place, is really organized with the education of each machine.
• I like how the machines look and how they work. I really like what they make it looks so cool.
• Is all the machines and how they work and the history. This tour was fun and I liked how all these machines are different and make really cool things.
• How our tour guide told us a lot of information about each place we went to. All of the technology.
• To see the process on how everything moved and worked.
• I enjoyed the educational advantages received during this tour. I hope that the lessons and explanations taught in this will help the betterment of my future.
• I liked the fun environment and I enjoyed learning about devices in manufacturing.
• I found it really interesting since I had never been in a manufacturing company.

These responses and the data collected during this study clearly illustrate the significant impact of industry tours and their role in sparking girls’ interest in and awareness of the high-tech world of manufacturing and the many, varied, high-wage and challenging careers it offers. It is crucial to have STEM colleges and career explorations early on in girls’ academic experience so that appropriate mathematics and science coursework can be addressed.

According to a 2012 report from the Girl Scout Research Institute, independent of interest level in STEM, there are still obstacles that need to be overcome to recruit and retain more girls in STEM:

• More than half (57%) of all girls say that girls their age don’t typically consider a career in STEM.
• Nearly half (47%) of all girls say that they would feel uncomfortable being the only girl in a group or class.
• Further, 57% of all girls say that if they went into a STEM career, they’d have to work harder than a man just to be taken seriously.

We know that girls are interested in STEM subjects and careers but in spite of this, they continue to choose other, more traditional

career choices such as teaching or social work. Research shows that although more than 80% of girls are interested in a STEM career, only a small percentage of those (13%), cite a STEM career as their number one choice. So we have work to do – we need to educate and raise awareness of the many lucrative and exciting STEM careers available to women. We need to educate everyone involved in our girls’ education – parents, teachers, career counselors, and of course, the girls themselves.

Manufacturing Industry tours are a proven and effective way to achieve this goal! For more information on 2016 Manufacturing Day visit http://madeinflorida.org/manufacturing-day, or contact Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org. To avail of FLATE’s STEM based resources for girls read our Best Practices guide on Recruiting & Retaining Girls in STEM, or head on over to the FLATE Wiki which is filled with great resources for STEM educators and practitioners.

Also from MFGDay.com: Stats from last two years shows Florida leading the nation in hosting industry tours and MFG Day events. Kudos to all who have made this a successful endeavor

sTEm–at-Work Puzzle #53: Process Pressure Disturbance

The puzzle last month required the technician to replace the vacuum pump that controlled the pressure in a manufacturing reactor.  To bring this pump back on line, the tech: turned the pump on and allowed the reaction chamber to reach its steady state low pressure value, introduced a pressure disturbance, and then adjusted the programmable controller driven pump control panel settings to values that automatically try to return the pressure back to its steady state pressure set point value.  The tech tested three different sets of control panel settings with their three corresponding pressure versus time graphs shown below.  From the answer for last month's puzzle, it is clear that option 3 was not the setting the Tech selected so let's move to the next option. The settings that provided response (2).  

The technician selected the setting that provided the graphic response shown as graph (2). YES or NO. Submit your answers below the blog post, or on www.fl-ate.org.        

Middle & High School Students Enhance Understanding of STEM Through Hands-on Projects

The 2015-2016 academic year has been an educationally stimulating time as middle and high school students in the School District of Hillsborough County have had the opportunity to work on various in and out-of-class STEM projects. These projects are targeted not only to spark students’ interest in STEM through hands-on learning experiences, but also garner a firm understanding of each of these concepts, their applications in day-to-day operations and in a broader context learn about the Science, Engineering and Technology involved in manufacturing products en masse. In keeping with this goal, students from Buchanan Middle School in Tampa recently worked on a manufacturing project that entailed designing and building a dinosaur puzzle.

As part of the 7^th grade class project that teaches students about manufacturing and advanced

scientific concepts, 44 students from Buchanan Middle School were entasked to design a dinosaur puzzle. Students had to make cutouts and then reassemble the cutouts to make the puzzle. The idea, according to Walter Watts, who is currently the bio-engineering academy technology teacher at Buchanan, was to create an automated manufacturing plant that could assemble the dinosaur puzzle without people/manual labor involved. For the project, students worked in teams for three weeks. They had to learn pseudo coding and then brainstormed ideas and designs to create an automated assembly line, as well as formulate a pseudo code on how everything works. Students worked for three weeks to complete their projects which culminated in a class presentation for each group of students.

In addition to students at Buchanan, students at Greco Middle School and Middleton High School also worked on various STEM projects. At Greco, students participated in the annual “Shark Tank” competition as part of their capstone project. The competition is modeled after the television show where aspiring inventors and entrepreneurs design a product and then pitch their product and business model to potential business partners and buyers. The “Sharks” or the investors evaluate the presentation, and base their decision to invest, or not, on a particular product based on the final product design, research, and prototype itself.

This year there were a total of nine “Shark” investors who evaluated 11 projects and business

proposals from 4-8^th grade STEM students. Teams were evaluated on various metrics that ranged from the overall concept of the product, budgetary outline, completed prototype, project presentation that included PowerPoint presentations, talking points about the product/business and follow-up questions and answer sessions between the students and the “shark” investors.  

The students at Middleton High School also participated in the Engineering Capstone Final Project as part of the “Project Lead the Way” Pathways to Engineering program. A total of 11 projects were designed and presented by approximately 33 students. To complete their project each team had to identify a problem that they sought to resolve through an innovative design/invention. Similar to the other two schools, students worked throughout the year to build a case/thesis for their project, brainstormed solutions, and digitally designed their prototype, as well as built and tested their design concepts.

Following the guidelines laid out by Engineering Capstone Project- Lead The Way, each group of students provided an overview of their project to the judges. Danielly Orozco of FLATE served as a judge in each of the competitions at Greco and at Middleton High School, and provided professional insight/observation to each group about their design and viability of their product. The objective was to constructively critique and evaluate projects against real-world industry standards.

In all of this, the projects provided a hands-on the deck approach in giving students from each school

a better understanding about automation, product design, production as well as marketing their ideas in a real-world setting. Students learned how to write pseudo codes to perform a series of automated tasks and draft business proposals and pitches that are part of a technician’s and/or manufacturers’ everyday job in real world settings. “Problem based learning is the best way for someone to learn how to solve real-world problems and learn about manufacturing processes” said Watts. To that effect, the teachers at Buchanan, Greco and Middleton each look forward to working with FLATE in using its free resources, and leveraging the Center’s business contacts to set-up industry tours for students to enhance their experiential learning and understanding of business concepts and automated processes in high-tech production environments.

For more information on STEM based programs for middle and high school students in Tampa Bay visit the School District of Hillsborough County Website. For free STEM resources, curriculum, and professional development opportunities for K-14 educators visit the Made in Florida website and the FLATE Wiki, or contact Dr. Marilyn Barger, executive director of FLATE at barger@fl-ate.org. 

All Girls Electrathon Team at Middleton High School Continues to Surge Ahead

Middleton High School, a pre-collegiate STEM Academy in Tampa has made its mark in defining

excellence in manufacturing and STEM education. Over the years the school has worked closely with FLATE, and we have reported on a number of STEM initiatives that Middleton continues to lead and excel locally here in Tampa. The All Girls’ Electrathon team, comprising of students who are primarily enrolled in the engineering program at Middleton High School, has been actively participating in Electrathon of Tampa Bay’s races since April of 2015 which FLATE has been following along and reporting on their many successes. Since then, the girls have used a frame borrowed from the organization having built upon it to participate in races and learn how to fix, maintain, and improve a standard Electrathon car. The girls have competed and placed in numerous races regionally and nationally.

A pre-existing Middleton team, the Boys’ team, has also been working with the girls and coaching them through the process of starting up their team. One of the members, David Zamora noted that “the Girls’ team just needed a little nudge in the right direction since they started from almost nothing.” David was one of the boys that helped teach the girls how to wire the car and keep it conditioned.

On Wednesday, June 1 Charles Harrison, President of Electrathon of Tampa Bay, visited Middleton to

collect the loaned car, but since taking the car would keep the girls from racing until a new car was built, he decided to leave the car with them until a fully functional car was built. After the boys heard that the girls needed to build a new car, they donated an old steel frame that is now going to be used for the girls’ car. “We gave the girls a chassis so they will have a great start in building a new car for the upcoming race season” said Ryan Norden, driver and mechanic for the boys’ team. The frame of a car is usually the most difficult part to figure out, and since the boys’ have taken care of that, the girls’ can focus on building and racing their new creation sooner than expected.

Katelyn Allan, the driver for the Girls’ team, stated “This will give us an opportunity to show the boys

that girls can do anything the guys can, and maybe we’ll be able to do it just a little bit better.” She and the rest of the girls on the team are firm believers that there is nothing stopping young women from performing as well as their male counterparts in technical areas such as Engineering. Having the Girls’ team at a STEM school has shown that gender is not a limitation. The girls are also in the process of recruiting new teammates and with the help of SMSgt Rutzke, an AFJROTC Instructor at Middleton, are taking strides to improve the Girls’ team.

Building a new car from simple frame will be no easy task, but the Girls’ team is ready for the challenge. For more information on the Electrathon team at Middleton High School visit http://middleton.mysdhc.org/Clubs/Electrathon, or contact Kyle Thompson at kylegthompson@gmail.com.

#SmartGirlsRock All Girls STEM Competition a Success!

Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida Graduates’ [The Foundation] Girls Get I.T. program recently wrapped up the

state finals for Florida’s only, 'all girl STEM Competition,' #SmartGirlsRock. The #SmartGirlsRock STEM Competition consisted of four regional competitions held in Ft. Lauderdale, Tallahassee, Tampa, and Jacksonville with the winners moving on to state finals at NASA Kennedy Space Center in Titusville, FL. on April 9, 2016. The Competition was designed to promote, motivate and support girls in STEM, and to challenge them to identify a problem and develop a solution using STEM based concepts/themes.

There were a total of eight presentations and 15 girls. FLATE was invited to serve as one of the four judges to evaluate and rate student presentations. “We asked the competitors to do one thing; solve a problem using science, technology, engineering or math at the root of your solution,” said Heather Beaven, CEO of the Foundation. Competitors were given the freedom to present a topic of their choice which allowed them to explore and engage in many different areas of STEM. Winning solutions ranged from edible water bottles, indestructible fabric, personal solar panel air conditioning and a more body friendly medical device for cecestomy patients, with FLATE presenting the top three winners with wooden robots. “Even the NASA judges thought their creativity, commitment to the scientific process, and brain power was seriously impressive,” said Beaven. 

The organization did not stop at the #SmartGirlsRock competition. The full day event also included a #RaisingSmartGirls

parent conference built to help parents encourage their daughters’ interest in STEM. Companies and colleges joined the #SmartGirlsWork career fair where they were able to network directly with some of Florida’s most promising students and their families. “I am deeply humbled and very grateful for the efforts and the opportunity and again just the sheer work involved to bring such a thing into the light, to give it shape and direction and create tangible connections,” said one mother of a state finalist.

Funds for the event were provided, in part, by the Carl Perkins Career and Technical Education Act via the Florida Department of Education. The assistance of volunteers and partners made the competition a great success!  Partners include: NASA, Stemfinity, Flate, Florida First Lego League, GLAM, Ladies Learning to Lead, STEM Exposure, DIVAS, Department of Juvenile Justice, NOVA, UNF, and the US Navy. 

More information on the Girls Get I.T. program and other programs offered by The Foundation can be found at www.flgraduates.org. For information on FLATE’s STEM resources for girls visit www.madeinflorida.org, or email Dr. Marilyn Barger, Executive Director of FLATE at barger@fl-ate.org.

Article Contributed by

Katherine Cartright

Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida Graduates

386.439.5730

Kcartright@flgraduates.org

Flgraduates.org

There’s Still Time to Sign up for a Robotics Camp!

We are at the brink of kick-starting the 2016 FLATE’s robotics camps, but it’s not too late to sign up for a

camp of your choice (if you haven’t already!). We still have some spots AND scholarships available for eligible students. The five day camps are poised to challenge middle and high school students to to learn about Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and their applications in everyday high-tech operations.

This year’s schedule and list of camp offerings include:

June 20-24:                  Introductory EV3 Robotics Camp for Middle School GIRLS ONLY                                    (Scholarships Available)

June 27-July 1:            Introductory EV3 Robotics Camp for ALL Middle School students

July 11-15:                  Intermediate EV3 Robotics Camp for ALL Middle School students

July 25-29:                  Engineering Technology Camp for High School Students
                             (Scholarships Available)

The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation will provide scholarships for girls from low-income families to

attend the All Girls camp. To apply for a scholarship fill out the registration forms that are currently posted on the FLATE Camps page. Scholarships are also available for students interested in enrolling in the high school camp. Students from low income families, and/or those participating in a free and reduced lunch program are eligible to apply for the high school camp scholarship which is being offered through a grant from Hillsborough County. More information on the high school camps, applications and scholarship are posted online on the FLATE Camps website. Thanks also to the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers for contributing $500 to FLATE robotics camps. 

In addition to the robotics camp in Tampa, FLATE is hosting camps at St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, FL, at Marion Technical Institute in Ocala, Peterson Academy in Jacksonville, North Florida Community College in Madison and other locations as well. Information on the camps at St. Petersburg College in Pinellas County and Marion Technical Institute are posted on the FLATE website under “Other Robotics Camps,” scroll to the bottom of the page to get more information about the application process and dates of the camp. 

For more information on FLATE’s 2016 Robotics and High School Technology camps visit www.fl-ate.org/projects/camps.html, and www.madeinflorida.org. You can also contact Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org, and/or Janice Mukhia (news@fl-ate.org) with any questions/application process. 

MTU America Hosts Annual Girls Day at Manufacturing Plant

Manufacturing Day is a national event highlighting the power of American innovation and celebrating manufacturers across the

country. For the past three years, FLATE and its statewide network of partners across Florida has taken a leading role in conducting and hosting MFG Day events. These efforts have led to Florida consistently being placed at the top in the nation for hosting MFG day events overriding states that are considered a much bigger hub for manufacturing than the sunshine state. 

Plans for Manufacturing Day 2016 are starting to take shape. Most recently, MTU America hosted its annual Girls Day event, exposing young girls to manufacturing processes and careers at its MTU Aiken Plant last month. The event aims to educate young girls about the careers available in the manufacturing industry and stokes interest in an industry that is typically male-dominated. All seven of the Aiken County Public School District’s high schools participated in this year’s event.

According to a news release from MTU America, the gender pay gap is a hot topic in the United State, considering the upcoming election and various legislation in the works to help close it. A recent study from Fortune magazine suggests that getting more women into middle-skill jobs such as manufacturing, information technology, transportation, distribution and logistics could result in closing the gap and an earnings increase for all women. MTU’s Girls Day offers young women a glimpse into the world of manufacturing while cultivating the belief that girls and boys are equally capable of achieving success in the industry, according to a news release from MTU America.

At this year’s event, MTU hosted 85 local female ninth-graders to hear directly from women in the manufacturing industry about their education, career path and the opportunities available for women in manufacturing. The girls also toured the plant, got hands-on experience with components in the plant and learned about MTU America’s high school apprenticeship program.

For more information on MTU visit http://www.mtuamericacareers.com. 

FLATE will be making announcements about 2016 Manufacturing Day in Florida, and related tours/events in the next month, or two. Stay tuned for updates that will be posted at http://madeinflorida.org/manufacturing-day, or email Executive Director of FLATE, Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org.

Focus on Florida TRADE

As the Florida TRADE grant comes to a close, we would like to share some of the highlights

and accomplishments of the Consortium. Through the end of April 2016, 873 unemployed program completers were placed into jobs in manufacturing across the state, and the consortium is on track to place 1,000 students into jobs by the end of September. In addition, 89% of our program completers have earned at least one industry certification, with many earning more than one credential. Our outreach efforts enrolled almost 750 women, 1,800 minorities, and over 600 veterans into Florida TRADE programs statewide.

Florida TRADE has been one of FLATE strategic partners that has worked closely with the Center on a number of projects that targeted to promote manufacturing and technician training and education. Florida TRADE has achieved, and in many cases surpassed the goals that were set for us. We set out to make a difference and we did; in people’s lives, in our communities, and in the partnerships we formed with our Career Source boards, our manufacturing associations, and other organizations such as FLATE. Along the way, we have bonded into a formidable team. The heart of Florida TRADE is these strong relationships and teamwork we have developed, and is our legacy as our Department of Labor funding ends. In closing we proudly say that “We Are Florida TRADE!”

The 12 state and community colleges that began the Florida TRADE consortium received federal

Department of Labor money to develop and implement short-term training programs in manufacturing, to include industry certifications, paid internships, and employment. This funding was part of the second round of Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training (TAACCCT) program designed to build a stronger workforce at the end of the recession by preparing unemployed workers to meet the needs of local industry.

For more information visit https://www.fltrade.org. 

This article was contributed by:

Gary W. Graham, Ph.D.

Director: Florida TRADE Consortium

St. Petersburg College

Jill D. Flansburg, Ph.D.

Program Coordinator, Florida TRADE

St. Petersburg College