sTEm–at-Work (Puzzle #23): Bridge Corrosion Test

A technician works for the Florida Department of Transportation monitoring the amount of corrosion that occurs in the “rebar” of concrete bridge pillars. “Rebar” are steal rods that are embedded in the bridge concrete to give the bridge extra strength. The problem is that the bridge pillars are in salt water and the steal rods corrode. The tech uses a corrosion tester made by the “U-Betch-en” instrument company. The instrument applies an increasing voltage across two test points on a “rebar” in the bridge and then decreases that applied voltage value back to zero. The electrical current along the “rebar” between the two test points is measured as the voltage changes in both voltage directions. If the steal rod (the “rebar”) is not corroded there are neither local maximum nor local minimum in the voltage vs. current plot. The test results on two different rods in Bridge 123 show one of the bars is corroded. The technician now needs to label it on the plot.

The “rebar” identified as B-123¬_a is the corroded rebar. (yes or no). Please submit your answers in the comments section below this posting, or at http://www.fl-ate.org/.

President's Request for Industry Credential Based 2 year Degree: A Done Deal in Florida!

On May 8, 2011, President Obama announced a goal to credential 500,000 community college students nationwide with skills certifications aligned to manufacturers’ hiring needs. Similarly, at the NSF Broadening Impact Meeting in Washington D.C., Jane Oates, assistant secretary for employment and training at the Department of Labor (DOL) called out to the nation’s community colleges to grant college credit for short-term workforce training. Oates said “short-term workforce training, which has historically not included college credit, and does not count toward degrees is "immoral." The unified message from the pulpits of the White House and the DOL, to align workforce training with industry recognized credentials, is loud and clear!

These presidential directives that the nation needs two year degree programs which articulate industry recognized certificates is already a reality in Florida. Even before the big names in manufacturing first endorsed this system, FLATE took a leading step to embed the National Manufacturers

Association-endorsed Manufacturing Skill Standards Council’s Certified Production Training (MSSC CPT) certificate into the core of the FLATE-created statewide Engineering Technology (ET) degree.

Dr. Marilyn Barger, executive director of FLATE says “FLATE was the first to establish alignment crosswalks, and wrote the first statewide articulation that allows anyone in the country to get 15 credit hours towards this A.S. degree if they hold a valid MSSC Credential.” FLATE has also put into place a high school program that is specifically aligned to the same certification, and can be used by high school students to enter the two year A.S. degree in Engineering Technology. Moreover, Dr. Marilyn Barger, via invitation from Emily DeRocco, president of NAM’s Manufacturing Institute, has been a member of the Manufacturing Institute’s Education Council for 2 years, primarily representing FLATE’s highly regarded statewide model, and as a conduit to other manufacturing centers. “It’s a kind of grass roots effort to get industry engaged; besides which, Florida now has the third largest number of MSSC CPT certified individuals in the country. Pretty good for a state that is not considered a ‘manufacturing’ state” Barger said.

The ET degree program conceived, engineered, and coordinated by FLATE was developed with funding from the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Program (NSF ATE), and has been in place in Florida since 2008. The program represents a cooperative effort between the Florida Department of Education and FLATE, is a unified statewide approach to meet the needs of Florida’s hi-tech manufacturing industry, and represents a synergy which connects industry and workforce needs to college degree and certificate programs.

Currently, ten participating Florida state and community colleges offer ET degree and certificate programs, and current data shows that the program is meeting student needs. Since ET program adoption began in

2008, there has been a 139% increase in ET degree enrollment among Florida colleges, with 347 enrolled in 2009-10. Additionally, 2010 data received from the Florida Department of Education reports a 14% increase in total ET and related degree enrollment (4,714 enrolled in 2009-10), and a 10% increase in total Engineering Technology and related degree and certificate program enrollment (5,095 enrolled in 2009-10). Enrollment has also grown in 16 Florida colleges in ET and all related programs between 2008-09 and 2009-10 by as much as 58%!

For more information on FLATE’s industry-aligned ET degree email Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org, or visit www.madeinflorida.org/engineering-technology-degree/e-t-overview.

Programmed For Success...Preparing Students for Robotics and High-Tech Careers

Each year FLATE hosts a robotics night for parents and middle school students who attend the LEGO robotics camps this year. This year’s fast paced, one hour information session, held at Hillsborough Community College in Brandon, served as a rich storehouse of information primarily on robotics and STEM, and was attended by 17 people. The program highlighted STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)-based resources available at local schools; career and educational opportunities for students interested in pursuing STEM pathways, and an overview of FLATE”s two year A.S. degree in engineering technology currently being offered in community colleges across the state.

Rob Weinburg, district resource teacher for career and technical education curriculum and STEM initiatives at the School District of Hillsborough County (SDHC) in Florida and Jake Prokop, from the Helios Foundation provided an in-depth overview about the SDHC’s, middle school STEM Institutes (More Information about the STEM Institutes on FLATE’s Blog), and high school STEM career academies. Weinburg and Prokop highlighted a best practices/benefits reaped from the institutes’ STEM models, and briefed attendees about upcoming robotics events. Students and parents also got an opportunity to tour the manufacturing lab at HCC, and were encouraged to take advantage of the resources available on the “Made in Florida” website. Response from parents as well as campers was overwhelmingly positive.

Alyssa Joyner, a 7th grader at Madison Middle School who attended FLATE’s intro camp last year and the

advanced camp this year says the robotics camp have tremendously helped with schoolwork. Joyner who was also this year’s door prize winner—a complete LEGO kit—says she is “more into STEM now than before.” Gregory Starks another camper who attended the 2011 intro camp, and a 6th grader at Greco Middle School, says the “stuff” he learnt at the robotics camp has helped him with engineering classes in school. His grandfather, Paul Helbing, agrees the robotics camp spurred Gregory’s interest in robotics, and sharpened his penchant for science.

In addition to its impact on students, FLATE’s robotics camps have also fired up parents’ interest in STEM/robotics. Kim Bone, whose son Dalton Hensley attended the 2011 advanced camp, recently started a robotics club at Turkey Creek Middle School in Tampa where she teaches 7th grade science. Bone says she was inspired to start the program at her school after watching her son flourish/enjoy FLATE’s robotics camp. “A lot of my students are Hispanic and face the possibility of working in the fields. Familiarizing themselves with latest technology will give them the tools to seek better opportunities” Bone said. The club, comprised of 10 boys and 12 girls, recently had its first meeting, and is poised to explore and have a “lot of fun” with robots.

For more information about the robotics camps please call or email FLATE’s Outreach Manager, David Gula at 813.259.6581/gula@fl-ate.org, or visit http://www.madeinflorida.org/.

From the Executive Director's Desk

With the start of a new academic year, I am happy to report that the two-year Engineering Technology degree has grown to include eight different specialization tracts (advanced manufacturing, advanced technology (composites), alternative energy systems, biomedical systems, digital design and modeling, electronics, mechanical fabrication and design, and quality) at 10 different colleges across the state. These programs are growing and maturing, and there are now students graduating from these programs every semester. Responding to some recent requests, and to help all Florida industries find these graduates, FLATE has just launched its new “HIRE an ET GRAD” pages on FLATE’s Made in Florida website www.madeinflorida.org/graduate/. From this portal, industry has direct access to ET programs across Florida via a link to the person overseeing the program they are interested in hiring. It’s very simple to use and works like this:

• Navigate to http://www.madeinflorida.org/ home page.
• Click on the green “hire an ET graduate” button under the home page intro flash slide show.
• Click the link to login.
•  Login with your name, position, company (you will set a password, but you will not need it to get to the   page again if you login from the same machine in the future).
• Once logged in, you will see the list of ET Degree specializations with a summary of the course topics which make each unique. Click on the specialization that offers courses that cover the skills you are looking for and a pop-up window will open with all colleges offering that specialization.
• Click on the contact from any school you wish to contact.
• Send an email about the position you are looking to fill. Please does not change the email subject line; it is auto filled to alert the college contacts that your message is from this webpage. The auto text is “HIRE AN ET GRAD REQUEST”.
• The college contact will reply with recent and potential graduates as well as answer any questions you might have about that specific program of study.

Please visit these new pages and explore how they work – and give us some feedback to let us know if this will be useful, as well as your ideas how to make it even better.

We have added other features in the last few months as well – including our ET Student profiles http://madeinflorida.org/student-profiles/. Industry might find potential new hires on this page as well! There are separate pages for college students and high school students and you can navigate back and forth easily. Teachers and faculty (and anyone else) can direct students to the link on this page that takes students to a short online survey. We develop profiles based on survey answers. We do not post the student profiles without a photo, so all students are given instructions on what they need to for that. Please explore this site and consider including students from your area by contacting local schools and colleges. We would love to have profiles for students from every school around the state.

Thanks to Janice Mukhia, our newsletter editor, the September issue of the FLATE Focus is packed with interesting stories. This issue chronicles a story about Southern Manufacturing Technologies Inc., a local industry partner who has been at the forefront of providing high-tech custom manufacturing and machining services, outlines South Florida Manufacturing Association’s strategies to promote international trade initiatives in the region, and discusses FLATE’s STEM-based professional development initiatives geared to increase the pipeline of skilled workers. We are also starting a new “announcements” section that will feature news about ongoing and upcoming events, conferences, grant opportunities etc. Please contact us if you have any questions, or have a story you would like to tell in the FLATE Focus, a project you think we might be able to partner with, questions about manufacturing education in Florida. Have a wonderful week!