FLATE at the 2023 MakeMore Summit

The MakeMore Manufacturing Summit is hosted each year by FloridaMakes to bring together Florida’s manufacturing ecosystem. The Summit is designed to help strengthen Florida's manufacturing sector, including identifying and solving key issues. The MakeMore theme changes each year to reflect the priorities of the manufacturing community, focusing this year on Unleashing Digital Transformation. Summit presentations and panels included Transforming Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturing: Lessons from the Digital Frontier, Engaging National Assets for Technology Adoption, and The Implications of Industry 4.0 in Engineering Technology Education.  The full program can be found here.

The Implications of Industry 4.0 in Engineering Technology Education panel was facilitated by Ernie Friend, Executive Director of FLATE. The panel included:
  • Cecilia Larsson, Program Manager/Professor of Engineering Technology at Seminole State College; 
  • Shirley Dobbins, Engineering Technology Assistant Professor, Hillsborough Community College; 
  • Rod Jaeger, President & CEO, D.C. Jaeger Corporation; and 
  • Jeff Kondel, Owner & Executive Director, Roots Education.
The panelists answered a broad range of questions and gave the audience a good perspective on:
  • how Industry 4.0 is impacting educational vendors and educators, 
  • the challenges in attracting and retaining top talent or new adjuncts and faculty, and 
  • how the ET Forum helps address the needs of manufacturers at the state level.
The discussion led to many audience questions and comments during and after the panel. FLATE appreciates the panelist's participation and for bringing their expertise to Florida’s manufacturing community.

FLATE also honored the 2023 FLATE Most Innovative Manufacturing Month Student Event Award at the MakeMore Summit.  Ernie presented the award to the Manufacturers Association of Central Florida (MACF) for their 2022 Made in Central Florida Expo & Student Design & Build Competition.  Donnie Casey, Executive Director, accepted the award on behalf of MACF.  Several MACF officers and manufacturers were also on hand to celebrate the award. FLATE awards recognize outstanding contributions to promote and support technology education and career awareness in manufacturing. 

The 2022 Made in Central Florida Expo featured 27 local manufacturers in the Expo and the design and build student competition impacted over 250 students from across four school districts in Central Florida: Orange County, Lake County, Citrus County and Sumter County. 

Congratulations to MACF!


Engineering Technology and Manufacturing Related Program Student Enrollment in Florida

Every year FLATE makes a formal request to the PERA Data group from the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) for student enrollment and completion data for the associate degree in engineering technology (A.S. E.T.) and manufacturing-related programs. Since the implementation of the E.T. program in Florida in 2007, FLATE has prepared an annual “five-year Student Enrollment and Completion” Report. Annual improvements to the report have included new data requests and building in our own comparatives with other related technical programs. To help us better understand the pipeline from secondary programs, data for the high school programs that best align with the A.S. E.T. and manufacturing-related degrees that support manufacturing were included in the report. Many of these are aligned to the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council Certified Production Technician (MSSC CPT) credential and take advantage of the statewide articulation using that MSSC CPT to acquire 15 credits towards the ET Degree. 

flate.org/dashboard
As technologies evolve, the way FLATE reports student enrollment and completion data has also evolved to provide a more complete and efficient way to access this information. In February 2023, FLATE launched the Manufacturing Matters Dashboard - a data visualization tool that monitors and displays Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs that support manufacturing industries in Florida. The dashboard includes data on student enrollment and completion for high schools, technical/state colleges, and Universities with programs supporting manufacturers. It also provides data important for business intelligence and for situational assessment within the three main sections: Education and Skills Demand, Manufacturing Workforce and Industry Growth as well as Diversity. In addition, the data dashboard provides access to advanced interactive reports that include overall trends as well as breakdowns by educational institutions and by program and includes ethnicity and gender analysis for degree and college credit certificate enrollment and completion.

A.S. E.T. Degree Florida College Network

Figure 1.
FLATE, part of the FloridaMakes Network (the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Center in Florida), serves Florida to enhance and promote the 2-year manufacturing technician workforce education programs across the state. Currently, 23 out of the 28 member colleges of the Florida College System (FCS), represented in Figure 1, offer the A.S. E.T. program. These programs respond quickly and efficiently to meet the demand of employers by aligning certificate and degree programs with regional workforce needs.

Student Enrollment

Manufacturing education statewide enrollment for the A.S. E.T. degree continued to build in 2021-22 and now tops 2,078 students registered in 23 Florida colleges representing a 5% (102) increase when compared to the previous academic year. Overall, there has been a favorable increase trend over the past 5 years (see Figure 2 below). The decline in student enrollment, from 2019 to 2021, appears to be stabilizing, suggesting that the possible COVID-19 negative impact on student enrollment is over.

Figure 2.









Enrollment for the A.S. E.T. degree currently represents 46% of the total A.S. degree enrollments under the manufacturing career cluster.

Gender and Ethnicity Enrollment

Currently, 14% (282) of A.S. E.T. degree students enrolled are female and 86% (1,752) are male. This number represents a 5% (15) decrease in female enrollment from 2020-21 to 2021-22.  Female participation in the A.S. degree programs, offered under the manufacturing career cluster, represents nearly 24% (1,072) of the total students enrolled (4,519) in the 2021-22 academic year.  The 5-year student enrollment trend in the A.S. E.T. degree program indicates a slight increase from 238 in 2017-18 to 282 students in 2021-22. As shown in Figure 3, females still represent a minority of both E.T. and other A.S. degree programs under the manufacturing cluster.

Figure 3.












Minority enrollment has grown 16% for the A.S. E.T. degree program from 944 in 2020-21 to 1,101 in the 2020-21 academic year. Overall, 5-year student enrollment for the A.S. E.T. degree program shows an increase from 944 in 2017-18 to 1,101 students in the 2021-22 academic year. Overall, the ethnicity distribution, shown in Figure 4, indicates that white students currently represent 40% of the total enrollment for the A.S. degree programs followed by Hispanic and African American students with 40% and 32% respectively.

Figure 4.














Disability

Enrollment for students with disabilities has decreased from 83 students in 2020-21 to 71 students in 2021-22 representing a 14% reduction. Students with disabilities represent nearly 3% of total enrollment in A.S. E.T. degree programs and nearly 4% in other A.S. degree programs under the manufacturing cluster respectively.

Military/Veterans

Enrollment has remained stable with 146 students enrolled in 2021-22, since 145 students were enrolled during the 2020-21 academic period. Currently, students with military/veteran status represent approximately 6% of the A.S. E.T. degree and 7% of the total A.S. degree programs under the manufacturing cluster.

College Credit Certificate (CCC)

CCC enrollment under the A.S. E.T. degree has decreased by approximately 8% from 799 in 2020-21 to 729 in the 2021-22 academic year. Overall, 5-year student CCC enrollment for the A.S. E.T. degree program shows an increase from 418 in 2017-18 to 729 students in the 2021-22 academic year. Enrollment for the A.S. E.T. degree currently represents nearly 25% of the total A.S. CCC degree enrollments under the manufacturing career cluster.

Student Completion

The A.S. E.T. degree student completion showed a 5% decrease from 2020-21 (190) to 2021-22 (183); however, the overall completion from 2017-18 (163) to 2021-22 (183) shows a positive trend within the 5-year period. Currently, the A.S. E.T. degree student completion represents about 49% of the total student completion reported under the manufacturing A.S. degree programs.

The A.S. E.T. degree program female student completion number for 2021-22 is nearly 16% above the 2020-21 academic period. Female students now makeup 15% of all who complete the A.S. E.T. degree program and 24% of all students who complete any A.S. degree program in the manufacturing cluster.  Since 2017-18, female enrollment has increased by nearly 21% for the A.S. E.T. degree program. Although the rate of female enrollment and completion has slightly increased, the gender disparity in both E.T. and other A.S. degree programs under the manufacturing cluster remains significant.

Conclusion

The data assessment provided in this report is intended to serve as the basis for a new, statewide recruitment and outreach campaign for all district and FCS institution's engineering/manufacturing/advanced technology programs. Continuous efforts should be focused on economically disadvantaged residents/students and students for whom manufacturing/engineering/advanced technology is a nontraditional program for their gender.

With the advances in advanced manufacturing requiring constantly new skills from technicians and all professionals involved, it is imperative to continue strengthening the state’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs and pathways to develop a robust ecosystem of innovation, entrepreneurship, and cross-sector partnerships.

To learn about FLATE and manufacturing education in Florida visit Flate.org or contact FLATE executive director Ernie Friend (Ernie.Friend@Flate.org).




Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) has Chapter at Daytona State College

The Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) (https://fame-usa.com) provides global workforce development through solid technical training, integration of manufacturing core competencies, intensive professional practices, and intentional hands-on experience to build the future of the modern manufacturing industry. Led by manufacturers and supported by education partners, FAME establishes a best-in-class curriculum encompassing hands-on and virtual programming that provides authentic, tangible solutions to the industry’s toughest challenges in skills training and workforce development across various industries within manufacturing. FAME was created by Toyota and moved to the Manufacturing Institute for national scaling in 2019.

Today, the Manufacturing Institute, as the workforce development and education partner of the National Association of Manufacturers, is proud to manage FAME USA as it continues to grow across the country with the support of more than 400 manufacturers. The FAME model facilitates employer-led partnerships between a company and local educational institutions and establishes a channel for recruiting diverse, high-achieving, and career-oriented students. Once established, the cooperative of local employers that make up the FAME Chapter will generate a continuous pipeline of skilled technicians through the AMT program.

FAME helps students become highly skilled, globally competitive, well-rounded, and sought-after talent that can meet the unique needs and challenges of today’s modern manufacturing workforce. Every year, FAME graduates transition into well-paying, diverse career pathways in critical disciplines across the manufacturing industry and country. The college partner must be willing to work with the Chapter to ensure adherence to the FAME model--which includes delivering the technical knowledge, teaching and supporting the Manufacturing Core Exercises, and instilling Professional Behaviors in each cohort of FAME students.

Daytona State College has adopted the FAME model. It has mapped its E.T. curriculum to FAME outcomes (https://daytonastate.edu/academic-departments/college-of-business-engineering-and-technology/school-of-computer-science/fame.html). The earn-while-you-learn model provides students the pathway to earn an industry-recognized degree while gaining valuable experience at a sponsoring company. Program graduates earn an Engineering Technology Associate of Science degree in two years and log approximately 1,800 paid on-the-job hours at their sponsoring company. Students participate in the 40+ hour per week training program where they attend college twice a week and work three days a week (at least 24 hours) at their sponsoring company.

To learn more about FAME, you can attend one of three scheduled sessions (https://calendly.com/jtonydavis/fame-overview) on October 30th, -11 a.m., November 9th- 2:00 p.m., or November 14th-3:00 p.m.

2023 Fall Forum on Engineering Technology

The 51st state-wide Forum on Engineering Technology held on September 28th and 29th was hosted by St. Johns River State College (SJRSC) at Orange Park, FL. The forum was well attended with 55 (8 virtual) participants from 15 Florida state and community colleges and three universities.

The Forum on Engineering Technology (ET Forum) has served as an important vehicle for bringing together Florida’s diverse and geographically dispersed community with common issues and challenges. With the support of the Florida Department of Education (FDOE), FLATE works with the ET Forum network to strengthen the consortium, share its administrative activities and projects, provide professional development, bring industry and academia together, and engage in statewide FDOE curriculum frameworks review and reform. Over the years, it has become a true community of practice. 

The Forum meets twice a year and has convened fifty-one times, at over 25 different Florida colleges. The ET Forum, with FLATE guidance and leadership, continues to grow strong by recruiting interested colleges, hosting industry professionals from companies near the host institution, providing professional development for emerging and relevant technologies, participating in FDOE statewide curriculum frameworks reform and change related to ET disciplines, and providing extensive networking and opportunities for sharing and collaboration amongst colleges.

The fall ET Forum included two days filled with key topics, discussions, and updates. On the first day, topics included:
  • a round table discussion with topics including Fusion 360, Industry 4.0, recruiting faculty, adjuncts, and students, best practices for advisory committees, and faculty loads; 
  • the FDOE reported on new program developments including the updated CPalms.org site - the State of Florida's official online toolbox source for standards information, curriculum modules, and course descriptions; 
  • updates on the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) Certified Production Technician (CPT) certification articulation to the ET A.S.; 
  • an education vendor round table discussion on current technical education trends; 
  • St. Johns River State College ET program’s highlights and a tour of the ET Labs and facilities;
  • an industrial-economic workforce panel focused on new technologies that will impact and benefit the manufacturing sector; and
  • ET state college updates. 
In addition, the forum incorporated guest speakers with relevant key topics including Advanced Robotics in Manufacturing (ARM) Institute, and Cybersecurity for Manufacturing.


The 2nd day of the forum continued with the discussion of college issues, followed by NSF Grant updates that included a member recruitment request to join the Statewide Engineering Technology Advisory Board (SETIAB). SETIAB was created to engage manufacturers with college Associate in Science in Engineering Technology (A.S. ET) skills and certificates, Automation College Credit Certificate (CCC) review, and the creation of the ET A.S. Degree program database (core and specializations). 

Also on day 2, distinguished guest speakers and key relevant topics included:
  • Cobots with AI, from the University of Florida, and
  • Technology Transfer University (T2U) from NASA-John F. Kennedy Space Center
The Florida Engineering Technology Forum serves as a model organization for other disciplines and career clusters in Florida as well as technical disciplines in other states. Presentation and recordings are available at ET Forum Google Drive and FLATE.PBWorks/Presentations. Of the 16 evaluation survey responses received (13 in-person and 3 virtual attendees), nearly 80% (13) of respondents agreed that the Forum offered excellent overall professional development and networking value and 100% of the survey responders (16) would recommend the Forum to others.

Special thanks to SJRSC for hosting the ET Forum and the educational vendors for sponsoring the Forum.
  • Technical Training Aids
  • ARM Institute
  • Bluegrass Educational Technologies
  • D.C. Jaeger Corporation
  • JAR Systems
  • ROOTS Education 
  • Southern Educational Systems 
  • Learning Labs
  • Ultimate 3D Printing
For more information on the Forum and/or A.S.E.T degree visit https://fl-ate.org/programs/e-t-forum/.

FLATE Speed Networking Event in Duval County

As the FLATE team travels around the state, working with educators and manufacturers, we often hear the industry say they would connect with educators but don't have a personal contact in their area. The same is often true for educators, who would welcome a presentation or tour from a manufacturer but don't know a manufacturer personally.

To help create meaningful and lasting connections with educators and the manufacturing industry, FLATE works with communities to host Speed Networking events. At the end of the event, every educator will have a personal connection, business card, and contact from each manufacturer to help with industry tours, mentorships, classroom visits, etc. The industry representatives can build a regional group of educators to work on talent development, manufacturing career awareness, mentorship, business advisory committees, and sponsorships. Following each event, follow-up surveys are sent periodically to all participants to document the interaction between the educators and Industry to benchmark the number of events held and students impacted.

The latest Speed Networking event was held in partnership with the First Coast Manufacturing Association (FCMA) Workforce Committee at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FCSJ) on October 16, 2023,11AM - 1PM. Over 40 people attended the FCMA Speed Networking event from schools and companies in Duval and St. Johns counties. Each educator met with each industry person for about five minutes to learn about each other, exchange contact info, and build a professional relationship.

The event was a huge success and feedback from the attendees was very positive. The participants were so engaged in talking with each other that they didn't want to rotate to the next table each time the timer went off. We look forward to monitoring the many outreach events that will be created due to these new professional connections and the impact that it will have on students' understanding of the career options in manufacturing.

FACTE Annual Conference & Trade Show Continuous Excellence Supporting CTE Professional Development

Every year FLATE joins efforts with key partners to continue supporting Career and Technical Education professional opportunities in Florida.

The 57th FACTE annual conference and trade show, held July 17-19, 2023 in Orlando, Florida, was a success, hosting 600+ participants, 40 vendors, and more than 130 parallel sessions representing all areas of CTE education. The Florida Association for Career and Technical Education (FACTE), the Florida Association for Industrial and Technical Educators (FAITE), and the Florida Career Pathways Network (FCPN) partnered with FLATE to provide a pre-conference and a full multi-session day. The Trade Show and sessions were filled with opportunities to see the latest materials, equipment, and services, share best practices, and build relationships among the CTE community around the state.

The pre-conference activities with FAITE included a tour of the National Center for Simulation (NCS), SIMETRI a hi-tec simulation company delivering innovative products and services, and the Modeling Simulation Production Program at the Orange Technical College in Orlando.

The well-attended conference sessions, presented in partnership with FAITE, included Advisory Committee Best Practices, Which CTSO is right for your students (DECA, SkillsUSA, TSA, FBLA), Dual Enrollment-Three Schools Strategies, the 2023 FLATE Best Practices Award Winners Panel, and Department of Education engineering and technology education cluster updates (manufacturing; transportation, distribution, and logistics).

In addition, FLATE presented a session, under the FCPN session strand, about Visualizing Data Trends for CTE Grads and Occupations.   

At FACTE one of the most popular and well-attended presentations is the FLATE 2023 Best Practice Award Winners Panel. This year's panel had the honor of a visit from Chancellor Kevin O’Farrell, Division of Career & Adult Education, Florida Department of Education, who used the opportunity to congratulate the winners for their outstanding best practices and significant contributions in support of STEM, engineering technology, and industrial/manufacturing education in Florida. 

Thank you so much to the FACTE team for such a great event and for hosting FLATE Awards. FLATE will continue to partner with FACTE, FAITE, and FCPN to provide professional development and support CTE education for Florida students, teachers, and business partners.

Professional development opportunities are posted on our FLATE wiki site. You can always check there for additional updates by clicking on the Professional Development icon as well as explore any previous workshops and PD events offered by FLATE and its partners.


2023 FLATE Award Winners Recognized at the FACTE Annual Awards Brunch
















From left to right:
  • Ernie Friend, Executive Director for FLATE
  • Orville L. Dothage, 2023 Distinguished Manufacturing Partner
  • Kevin M. Davenport, 2023 Distinguished Manufacturing Secondary Educator-of-the-Year
  • Greg Lewis, Distinguished Manufacturing Post-Secondary Educator-of-the-Year
  • Kevin O’Farrell, Chancellor for the Division of Career & Adult Education, Florida Department of Education


Special thanks to the awards sponsor DC Jaeger for its generous contribution. 

Orville Dothage III Wins FLATE 2023 Distinguished Manufacturing Partner-of-the-Year

Congratulations to Orville Dothage III, Senior Manager at Northrop Grumman in St. Augustine, FL for his outstanding contributions to promote technology education and career awareness in support of manufacturing!  Orville has worked in the aerospace industry for more than 35 years. Throughout his career, he has enjoyed the opportunity to connect and collaborate with innovative thinkers working with cutting-edge technology. Orville’s contributions have driven program success for the betterment of our warfighters.  He has been successful at multi-tasking millions of dollars cost and schedule commitments.

Orville believes "Manufacturing is a critical component of our economy. Through reliable and responsible manufacturing, we become poised for future growth". Highlights of his career include leading teams in performance improvement analysis, ensuring supplier quality assurance, maintaining ISO 9000 certifications and interfacing with internal and external customers. Orville has developed Quality Assurance programs that have been replicated across numerous sites.

He is committed to supporting colleagues and mentoring the next generation workforce. Key contributions in this area include:
  • the development of continuing education partnership programs with Goodwill Industries of California and Florida
  • High School Involvement partnership programs and
  • STEM events tied to National Manufacturing Day.
His most recent endeavor involves creating, for the first time, a high school paid internship to produce the next generation of aircraft builders. The St Johns County Chamber of Commerce recognizes his relentless, hard work impacting technical education in St Johns County, "we are proud of you and of Northrop Grumman for the great partnership with our educational institutions".

The Manufacturers Association of Central Florida wins FLATE 2023 Most Innovative Manufacturing Month Student Event Award

The Manufacturers Association of Central Florida (MACF) won the 2023 Most Innovative Manufacturing Month Student Event Award for their 3rd Annual Made in Central Florida Expo and Student Design & Build Competition held at the Orlando Rosen Center in October 2022. The event featured over 100 employees from 27 local manufacturers in the Expo and a design and build student competition impacting over 250 students. Thirty-five (35) Middle and High Schools competed in the Design and Build Competition from Orange, Osceola, Lake, and Seminole school districts. 

The FLATE Speed Networking event held at the Expo connected educators to industry representatives in order to build long-term relationships to promote manufacturing careers and support students and to connect manufacturers to the student pipeline. Forty-eight (48) school counselors from Orange, Lake and Sumter County School Districts, as well as educators from middle schools, high schools and tech schools, met with representatives from the manufacturing company participants listed below to discuss career opportunities for their students.
The Expo and Competition was a day-long event with multiple agenda items. The expo provided an opportunity for manufacturing companies to set up exhibits for students, teachers, counselors, and other industry partners to learn more about career opportunities. Middle and high school students had the opportunity to participate in a Design and Build Competition, designing and executing a mechanical pump to move water from one bucket to another. There were also presentations by industry partners to students and counselors about the manufacturing industry, and a manufacturing panel discussion for students to ask questions of industry leaders about career opportunities.

To gain insight into the impact of the day, a survey was conducted at the end of the event. 100% of the student respondents felt that visiting and learning from industry helped them better understand the concepts needed to apply and gave them a better understanding of the careers and opportunities that exist in the manufacturing industry.

Here are some of the student comments, when asked what they liked most:
  • “I loved how well informed the employees were about any and all questions we had, which really shows how well versed they are in their line of work, company, and industry they work in overall.”
  • ” Learning new things about the manufacturing industry.”
  • “I really enjoyed the interactive demos and walking through the process in order to really gets the idea of how the process works.”
  • “I thought it was incredibly cool to see how something I use everyday is made. It really made me appreciate water on the second floor of my house more.”
A Mechatronics instructor at Orange Technical College-South Campus had this to say: “We are happy to have participated in the MACF hydro-pump event at the Rosen Hotel. Our mechatronics students had a great time showing off their skills, visiting the trade show, and making connections with vendors, and were happy to have brought home a win for the Orange Technical College - South Campus!"

Congratulations to the Manufacturing Association of Central Florida (MACF) for a successful event and being awarded the FLATE 2023 Most Innovative Manufacturing Student Event Award! The Award will be recognized at the FACTE Annual Conference and Trade Show in Orlando, FL July 18, 2023, at the FLATE Educator Best Practice Award Winners Panel. The Manufacturing Student Event award will also be recognized at the 2023 FloridaMakes Make More Summit – October 25-26, 2023, in Orlando, FL!

For information on the FLATE Awards visit: http://fl-ate.org/programs/flate-awards , or contact Executive Director of FLATE, Ernie Friend at Ernie.Friend@flate.org.

Kevin Davenport wins FLATE 2023 Distinguished Manufacturing Secondary Educator-of-the-Year

Kevin Davenport, Instructor of Engineering & Manufacturing at The Academy of Engineering & Environmental Science at Creekside High School in St. Johns, FL is the recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Manufacturing Secondary Educator-of-the-Year Award. The Award represents a joint effort between FLATE (Florida Advanced Technological Education Center), FloridaMakes and FAITE (Florida Association for Industrial and Technical Educators) to recognize contributions of educators and industries in advancing technician education and training on a regional and statewide level. Kevin will be recognized at the Florida Association for Career and Technical Education (FACTE) Annual Conference & Trade Show that will be held July 17-19, 2023 at the SeaWorld Renaissance in Orlando, FL where the winners will also serve as panelists for the Best Practice Award Winners Panel.

Kevin Davenport is a 13-year veteran teaching in St. Johns County School District’s Career and Technical Education department. He is a licensed engineer and has over 30 years of industry experience including founding, acquiring, selling, and transitioning multiple engineering consulting firms.

Mr. Davenport’s true passion is training students for, and aligning them with, powerful opportunities for their future. Specifically, his interests are creating business partnerships, student mentoring opportunities and internships to supercharge student growth and interest in the STEM and manufacturing fields.

The Creekside High School students (where Mr. Davenport teaches) learn foundational engineering, manufacturing, design, and innovation skills in a 4-year program in the Academy of Engineering and Environmental Science – a Florida Career Academy designed to teach a sequence of courses around a specific career choice or theme. Students in the Engineering Tract at the Academy can earn Industry certifications while in the program and include Manufacturing Skills Standards Council Certified Production Technician (MSSC-CPT) certification; Autodesk’s AutoCAD, Inventor, and Revit certifications; OSHA 10; Intuit’s Entrepreneurship and Small Business certificate; and PIM’s Project Management Ready certification.

Mr. Davenport is the sponsor and lead mentor for Creekside’s FIRST Robotics Team 8775. In addition to robotics, he leads several extracurricular activities including Engineering Club, Society of Women Engineers, National Technical Honor Society and ACE Mentoring.

The culmination of many of Creekside’s student’s high school careers is obtaining one of approximately 25 summer internships in the industry. These opportunities exist because Mr. Davenport has maintained and curated relationships with the sponsoring companies and organizations.

Mr. Davenport believes that “Manufacturing and STEM education are foundational to the future economic success of this country. In the words of Lee Iacocca, “A country’s competitiveness starts not on the factory floor or in the engineering lab. It starts in the classroom.” Overcoming the potential stigma of manufacturing as mundane or repetitive is important, as advanced manufacturing today is anything but. Manufacturing and STEM education can function as a catalyst for students, igniting a passion which may have gone undiscovered. These classes give students the opportunity to establish a relationship between what they’re learning in their core classes and real-world applications.”

Along with teaching and mentoring his students, Mr. Davenport has contributed to manufacturing education in a host of other ways. These include:
  • Host and Organizer of “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” 2023
  • Society of Manufacturing Engineers scholarship reviewer 2022
  • Founder and President of education non-profit 2022-current
  • National Defense Industry SOAR STEM Trade and Career Symposium Planning Committee 2022
  • National ACE Mentoring Champion Award 2021-2022
  • Department Head for CTE at Creekside High School 2021-present
  • Engineering Coordinator for St. Johns County Schools 2021-present
  • Adjunct Professor - St. Johns River State College - Advanced Manufacturing 2020-2021
  • FIRST Robotics team sponsor 2019-current
  • National Technical Honor Society sponsor 2019-present
  • ACE Mentoring Teacher of the Year 2018-2019
  • MSSC Certified Instructor 2018-present
  • Society of Women Engineers sponsor 2017-present
  • Northeast Florida Engineering Teacher of the Year 2016-2017
  • Creekside High School Rookie Teacher of the Year 2011-2012
  • Engineering Club sponsor 2010-present
Mr. Davenport holds fast to the belief that most of the “good stuff” happens outside the confines of the traditional school day. His students are frequently found in his classroom before the first bell and after the last, engaging in skill sessions with the Florida Civil Educators Foundation, listening to guest speakers present STEM topics, developing patents, fine-tuning projects and building/programming robots. A newer project has taken the students back in time. They’re designing and fabricating parts for “Lucky 13” – an international effort to restore a WWII B-17 bomber. The fact that many of these activities run simultaneously is a testament to Kevin’s ability to lead and to the students’ respect for him. Students from other high schools and from home-schools also benefit from his knowledge!

Join us in congratulating Kevin Davenport as the recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Manufacturing Secondary Educator-of-the-Year!

For information on the FLATE Awards visit http://fl-ate.org/programs/flate-awards, or contact Executive Director of FLATE, Mr. Ernie Friend or Senior Education Advisor, Dr. Marilyn Barger.


    

Greg Lewis wins FLATE 2023 Distinguished Manufacturing Post-Secondary Educator-of-the-Year

Greg Lewis, a Professor in Engineering Technology (ET) at St. Petersburg College in Clearwater, FL, will receive the 2023 Distinguished Manufacturing Post-Secondary Educator-of-the-Year Award. The Award represents a joint effort between FLATE (Florida Advanced Technological Education Center), FloridaMakes and FAITE (Florida Association for Industrial and Technical Educators) to recognize contributions of educators and industries in advancing technician education and training on a regional and statewide level. Greg will be recognized at the Florida Association for Career and Technical Education (FACTE) Annual Conference & Trade Show that will be held July 17-19, 2023 at the SeaWorld Renaissance in Orlando, FL where the winners will also serve as panelists for the Best Practice Award Winners Panel.  

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Greg Lewis began his career as a construction carpenter and advanced into interior design, creating trim packages for commercial projects traveling throughout the United States. When he returned to college, he studied Industrial Technology and received his associate degree at St. Petersburg College, his bachelor’s degree in educational technology at the University of South Florida, and his master’s degree from Fort Hays University in Network Engineering. Mr. Lewis has been teaching Engineering Graphics and Design at St. Petersburg College since 1997 and became the first instructor to teach SolidWorks in the state of Florida in 1999/2000. 

Currently, Mr. Lewis teaches Autodesk programs such as AutoCAD, Rivet (Intro and Advanced), Inventor, and Fusion 360, and teaches Manufacturing Design, Architectural Design, Rapid Prototyping and CNC Programming. He continues to teach SolidWorks, four levels of Mechanical Design, FEA Analysis, and 3D Printing.  

In addition to teaching and providing mentorship to students and teachers at St. Petersburg College, Mr. Lewis works with the community through various local high schools and manufacturing companies in and around St. Petersburg. He offered summer camp opportunities for high school and middle school students to design and build robots using SolidWorks in 2018, 2019 and 2023.  

Mr. Lewis works with the St. Petersburg College Engineering Club and has participated on Advisory committees for local High Schools for more than ten years. His other professional awards include St. Petersburg College Instructor of the year in 2015 (nominated again in 2022) and awarded the National League of Innovation 2019 League Excellence Award. 

In his down time, Greg enjoys long range bike rides and golfing. Congratulations to Greg for adding the 2023 Distinguished Manufacturing Post-Secondary Educator-of-the-Year award to his plethora of accomplishments! 

For information on the FLATE Awards visit http://fl-ate.org/programs/flate-awards, or contact Executive Director of FLATE, Mr. Ernie Friend or Senior Education Advisor, Dr. Marilyn Barger. 


 

Congratulations to the 2023 FLATE Award Winners!

This is the sixteenth year FLATE has recognized educators at the secondary and postsecondary level and industry partners for their outstanding contributions to promote manufacturing related technical education in Florida. “The Awards represent FLATE’s effort to showcase and recognize the contributions of educators and industries in advancing technical education and training on a regional and statewide level” said Marilyn Barger, Ph.D., Senior Education Advisor of FLATE. 


FLATE (Florida Advanced Technological Education Center), FloridaMakes and FAITE (Florida Association for Industrial and Technical Educators) are pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 FLATE Manufacturing Awards.

This year’s Awardees include:

  • Kevin M. Davenport, Instructor of Engineering & Manufacturing at The Academy of Engineering & Environmental Science at Creekside High School in St. Johns, FL, will receive the Distinguished Manufacturing Secondary Educator-of-the-Year Award.
  • Gregory A. Lewis, Professor in Engineering Technology at St. Petersburg College in Clearwater, FL, will receive the Distinguished Manufacturing Post-Secondary Educator-of-the-Year Award
  • Orville L. Dothage, III, Sr. Manager at Northrup Grumman in St. Augustine, FL, will receive the Distinguished Manufacturing Partner Service Award
  • The Manufacturers Association of Central Florida (MACF), Most Innovative Manufacturing Month Student Event Award for their Made in Central Florida Expo and Student Design & Build Competition featuring 27 local manufacturers in the Expo and a design and build student competition impacting over 250 students.
Ernie Friend, Executive Director of FLATE, adds "The work of FLATE award winners is making a real difference in the lives of students and the future of our state's manufacturing industry. We are grateful for their dedication to excellence in manufacturing education and to their collaborative work with industry partners, community leaders, and other educators to create a robust manufacturing ecosystem in Florida. Their work is helping to ensure that our state has the workforce it needs to compete in the global economy."

FloridaMakes CEO, Kevin Carr, agrees that these award winners move manufacturing workforce forward. “Educators play an important role in inspiring the next generation of manufacturing workers. It is our honor to recognize the 2023 FLATE Awardees for their outstanding work in manufacturing education in Florida.”

Awardees were selected from a distinguished pool of nominations submitted from across the state and were judged by an awards committee comprised of industry representative(s), FAITE board member(s), past awardee(s), and member(s) of the FloridaMakes Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Leadership Committee (AMWLC).

Awardees for the first three awards will be recognized at the Florida Association for Career and Technical Education (FACTE) Annual Conference & Trade Show that will be held July 17-19, 2023 at the SeaWorld Renaissance in Orlando, FL where they will also serve as panelists for the Best Practice Award Winners Panel. The Most Innovative Manufacturing Student Event Award winners will be recognized at the 2023 Florida MakeMore Manufacturing Summit held annually in the Fall in Orlando.

About the Florida Advanced Technological Education (FLATE) Center 

FLATE is a Center of Excellence for advanced technological education and is committed to ensuring that Florida has a well-prepared workforce for advanced and emerging technologies in manufacturing by providing educational resources and strategies for curriculum, professional development and student recruitment in secondary and post-secondary education. FLATE was created in 2004 through a grant from the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Program which is focused on improving STEM education to meet the needs of American advanced technology industries. In 2020, FLATE became a part of the FloridaMakes network. For more information visit www.fl-ate.org 


About FloridaMakes 

FloridaMakes is a statewide, industry-led, public-private partnership operated by an alliance of Florida's regional manufacturers associations with the sole mission of strengthening and advancing Florida’s economy by improving the competitiveness, productivity and technological performance of its manufacturing sector, with an emphasis on small- and medium-sized firms. FloridaMakes is the official representative of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) National Network in the state of Florida, a program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. For more information visit FloridaMakes.com

Statewide Engineering Technology Industry Advisory Board

The first meeting of the Statewide Engineering Technology Industry Advisory Committee (SETIAB) took place on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, the evening prior to the Spring Engineering Technology Forum (ET Forum)

The goal of the new SETIAB is to ensure that the more than twenty ET programs in the state continue to meet the rapidly evolving needs of industry and to raise the visibility of the skills and competencies of the program completers and to raise the visibility of the A.S. Engineering Technology degree program. 

The initial board has industry representatives from 6 state and community colleges and will focus on reviewing the advanced manufacturing competencies, recruiting additional members from other colleges, and setting up its organizational structure and bylaws.  The board will consist of at least one industry representative who supports a college ET advisory board, a member from FloridaMakes and a representative from the K12 education system in Florida and one from the Florida Department of Education’s Adult and Career Education Division. Non-voting members of the new advisory board include representatives from college programs that have an industry member of the board and representatives from FLATE. In the coming months, the college leadership and FLATE will be recruiting SETIAB board members from other colleges.

Several of the industry representatives attended the ET Forum the following day and met many of the ET educators from around the state and shared in the discussions about the ET program curriculum, new courses, lab equipment and student issues.  This board is an imitative of the NSF Engineering Technology adjustment grant awarded to FloridaMakes and four college partners (Polk State College, College of Central Florida, Daytona State College and St. Petersburg College) in 2022 to update the AS ET Curriculum and expand the engagement of industry in the program Statewide. 

The new Statewide ET Industry Advisory Board is also supported by the Florida Department of Education Perkins Leadership grant to FloridaMakes supporting FLATE. Look for a new page highlighting the SETIAB on FLATE’s website soon and if you have any questions, please contact Dr. Mori Toosi (mtoosi@polk.edu) or Dr. Marilyn Barger (Marilyn.barger@flate.org).








 

Aligning Skills Between Industry & Education for Robotics and Automation

FANUC partnered with D.C. Jaeger Corporation and FLATE to host the day-long Aligning Skills Between Industry & Education Workshop at the College of Central Florida (CF) in Ocala on April 20, 2023.  The event was intended to facilitate lively discussions among technical educators, community, and government and industry leaders about how automation is changing the landscape of the manufacturing sector. 

Over 50 attendees participated in the very interactive panel discussions after hearing about:
  • programs at CF by Sam Ajlani, Engineering Technology Department Head at CF; 
  • an overview of FANUC’s history and products by Joe Baldiga; 
  • the robotics High School program by Michael Stepp; 
  • working with robotics and automation at Lockheed Martin from Roxanne Storms; and 
  • about FLATE from Dr. Marilyn Barger. 
Many issues were identified, and potential solutions suggested, but the big takeaway was that industry and education really need to work together on local and regional solutions that meet the needs of local communities. After lunch provided by FANUC, the attendees divided into two groups to tour the Engineering Technology Laboratories at CF, including CF’s impressive FANUC Authorized Satellite Training (FAST) Center. Two educators traveling home together reported that “the event was EXCELLENT and that they had lots to talk about connecting what they had learned to their own programs” on their drive home. FLATE will be following up with the educators who attended to capture their next steps.

The need for skilled workers with automation training and certifications continues to grow across Florida and the nation in manufacturing and many industry sectors. FANUC has identified some current urgent needs of industry including more automation, more Computer Numerical Control (CNC) and implementing digital thread technology. They will be hosting additional “Aligning Skills” events across the country to help raise awareness of regional industry needs and bring industry and educators together to develop solutions. 

For more info, contact Dr. Marilyn Barger, Senior Education Advisor at FLATE at marilyn.barger@flate.org

Kudos to the 2023 Manufacturing, Engineering, Construction, and Architecture Expo at St Petersburg College

On April 4th, FLATE had the opportunity to participate in the Manufacturing, Engineering, Construction, and Architecture (MECCA) Expo at St. Petersburg College (SPC), held at Clearwater Campus. Over 500 Pinellas County middle school and high school, students had the opportunity to learn from multiple guest speakers and exhibits about exciting careers in Manufacturing, Engineering, Construction, and Architecture.  Many faculty, program advisors, and current students from the SPC’s Engineering Technology Department, opened their Collaborative Center for Emerging Technologies Laboratory and hi-tech classrooms to showcase the incredible world of manufacturing and the amazing career paths it has to offer. 

The Engineering Technology (ET) AS program at SPC currently offers specializations in quality, electronics, advanced manufacturing, digital design & modeling, and several industry-recognized certifications.  Now with a brand-new Biotechnology AS Program, SPC continues growing stronger,  offering technology programs tailored to meet the needs of local, state and nationwide industries. 

The ET department exhibits at the MECCA Expo included fun and interactive demonstrations like FLATE’s Dobot and measurement activity and a robot-controlled racecar roller coaster presented by AMSkills.  There were also “DogieBots” or Unitree Aliengo, high-performance quadruped robots that can traverse uneven terrain, climb gradients and remain stable even if kicked and a “Tech Diablo” robot, the world's first direct-drive self-balancing wheeled-leg robot by Stokes Robotics. Definitely, St. Pete College & its industry partners provided an exquisite Hight Tech Expo with free educational resources to help create awareness about the multiple career paths available in the fields of ET and Manufacturing.

This type of outreach event has proven to be an exceptional way to encourage students to explore future career opportunities and inspire the next generation of skilled workers.

For more information about FLATE and its educational resources to inspire the next generation of hi-tech skilled workforce, visit FLATE.org and MadeinFLorida.org.