First Robotics Camp at NFCC & Regional Camps Kicks off to a Great Start

North Florida Community College recently hosted their first robotics camp for middle school

students, modeled after the FLATE robotics camps. NFCC was the recipient of a National Science Foundation grant in spring of 2016. The grant’s principal focus, according to Bill Eustace, instructor of the Automation & Production Technology program at NFCC, was to promote and offer dual enrollment opportunities for juniors and seniors from regional service district high schools into the Automation and Production Technology program offered at NFCC. One of the portions of the grant was also to involve students with summer camps/workshops. “Our goal is to have students completed with the course curriculum and have the opportunity to earn the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council (MSSC) Certified Production Technician (CPT) credential by the time they graduate” said Eustace.

Kick off for the first robotics camp at NFCC using LEGO Mindstorms EV3 robot core kits was

July 25. “Being very new to these robotic kits, this was key to our being able to put on a very successful camp” said Eustace. A total of 12 campers worked in teams of two. Students learned about working as a team, respect for others, collaborating and sharing ideas, math and engineering principles to determine how far a robot would travel with one wheel rotation, problem solving to initiate turns with the robots, and many more skills they would need to make them successful both during the camp and in their daily lives.

Following the camp several students also signed up for the dual enrollment opportunities offered this semester at NFCC. “We are off to a great start, and I feel confident that future camps will be as fun and educational as this summer’s camp” said Eustace. For more information on the NFCC robotics camp email Bill Eustace at eustaceb@nfcc.edu.

In addition to the robotics camp at NFCC, the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition

(IHMC) Center in Ocala, which has hosted camps for many year modeled after the FLATE program, offered three summer camps for middle school students, two at the intro level, and one at the intermediate level. IHMC in Pensacola also hosted a similar camp for the FIRST time earlier this summer. 

Dale Toney at Marion Technical Institute and Steven Roberts from Liberty Middle School, hosted a robotics camp for 14 middle school students at Marion Technical Institute in Ocala, Fla. During the camp students learned about remote control robots, how to solder circuit boards, made their own 3-D coins. They also took a field trip to E-One, attended the Marion Regional Manufacturers Association¹s monthly meeting, and toured the College of Central Florida¹s Engineering Department. Other regional camps included one at St. Petersburg College, and the Peterson Academy in Jacksonville.

For information on the FLATE robotics camps and STEM related programs for middle and high school students contact Dr. Marilyn Barger, executive director of FLATE at barger@fl-ate.org, or visit www.madeinflorida.org and www.fl-ate.org. You can also refer to the FLATE Camp Best Practice guide to get tips on how to start your own robotics camps in your region.

sTEm–at-Work Puzzle #54: Signal Analysis for a Resistance based Temperature Sensor

A Mechatronics Tech has a strong background in electrical circuits and knows what to expect when AC signals are used to measure sensor response data, or send signals to control a motor. The illustration below shows the typical practice of presenting three different AC signal forms related to the sensor performance on the same time axis. The Tech knows that one period of each of these sine wave signals is 4 seconds. The Plot Legends indicate that the red dotted curve represents the current and the blue curve in the middle is the voltage signal. The Tech knows that the top purple curve could represent the power calculation for the voltage and current signals shown. The Tech also knows that a specific power value is the product of the current and voltage value at that specified time. In the specific situation below, the Tech knows that the three plots are in phase; the current measured values are identical to the value of applied current (values not shown) through the sensor; the current and voltage values are positive between 10:01:01 AM and 10:01:03 AM; and the temperature changes if the sensor's resistance value changes. Therefore, the Tech also knows that in this situation, the temperature being monitored is constant. 

Question
Do the three plots below represent what the Technician expects to see in this constant temperature situation? Yes or NO

Submit your answers below the blog, or on www.fl-ate.org                          

Nominate a #MFGWoman Today for the 2017 STEP Awards

It is that time of the year when you can nominate prominent women in STEM for the

Manufacturing Institute’s STEP Ahead Awards. Nominations will close October 7, 2016. Click here to submit a nomination today! The STEP Ahead program, now in its fifth year marks, “an incredible milestone in encouraging women into manufacturing careers.” This national honor identifies the ‘best of the best women’ in manufacturing, said Jennifer McNelly, Executive Director of the Manufacturing Institute who also heads the STEP Ahead Awards program.

Here in Florida, since the advent of the STEP Ahead awards there has been a significant number of STEP Awardees who have continue to serve as a beacon and role model for Florida's young women who are interested in pursuing a career in manufacturing and/or at STEM-related field. Over the years, FLATE has taken an active role in partnering with the Manufacturing Institute to promote the program in Florida. To that effect FLATE has published several articles in the FLATE newsletter blog highlighting the accomplishments and contributions of these remarkable women in STEM, and their role in paying it forward to the next generation of women and girls in STEM. This year, the STEP Ahead theme will focus on impact and how the program has managed to build an army of 500+ women making a difference within the industry. “By sharing these stories, we bring awareness to the opportunities within manufacturing and the progress we’ve made the past 5 years” said McNelly. It further encourages women to mentor and support the next generation of female talent to pursue manufacturing careers.

The Manufacturing Institute launched the STEP Ahead initiative in 2012 to celebrate women in

manufacturing that are making a difference through advocacy, mentorship, engagement, promotion and leadership. The STEP Ahead Awardees are part of a network of women ambassadors who serve as leading examples of women in manufacturing. Don’t miss the opportunity to recognize a leading woman from your company. Nominations will close October 7, 2016. Click here to nominate today!

For more information on STEP Awardees 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, or read the “Recruiting & Retaining Girls in STEM” Best Practice guide.

Manufacturers Mixer Offers an Innovative Approach to Finding Fresh Talent

The writing is on the wall. Manufacturers here in Florida and across the nation are constantly

on the lookout to find skilled workers. Recent headlines are increasing focus on the aging workforce and its overall impact on the manufacturing industry. Given this ongoing quest to recruit and retain fresh talent, Kelly Engineering Resources here in the Tampa Bay region recently came up with an innovative approach to possibly build a crosswalk between potential hires looking for jobs and manufacturers looking to fill new positions. Dubbed the “Kelly Intern Mixer” by Kelly Services, a national workforce and staffing solutions company, the model mimics many “speed dating” shows that infest primetime television of late. Nevertheless, the event provided a new approach to finding fresh talent for local manufacturers here in the Tampa Bay area.

The Intern Mixer was attended by 17 local manufacturers and manufacturing organizations, and attracted approximately 75 students, mainly graduates and soon-to-be graduate students, from the University of South Florida (USF), USF Polytechnic in Lakeland, Hillsborough Community College, Pasco Hernando State College, St. Petersburg College, University of Central Florida, and even engineering students at Middleton High School. FLATE Principal Investigators, Dr. Marilyn Barger and Dr. Richard Gilbert were also present at the event, and got to meet local students face-to-face to provide insight about the A.S. degree in engineering technology, and the educational and career pathways available to them once they graduate from college. “It’s a simple format” said James Shedden, Engineering Products Manager at Kelly Engineering Resources in Tampa. The event is hosted twice a year, in Fall and Spring, and is sponsored by professional engineering organizations and represents a cohesive partnership between Kelly Engineering Resources and organizations like ASME, IEEE and SME.

The lightning round of the event focused on manufacturers meeting one-on-one with a student

to provide an overview of the company and a profile of jobs available to them that matches their skills set. The students in turn got to meet manufacturers/potential employees face-to-face, network with them, and get a first-hand perspective on real-world jobs and skills that employers and manufacturers are looking for once they graduate, or they could focus their attention on while in school. “Sometimes the discussions culminate into a job/internship offer and each year we have two-four job offers” said Shedden, but the overarching idea is for students to network with industry professionals.

Metrics for success were gauged not only by strength in attendance, but also by the “quality

time” each student got to spend with each manufacturer. “It’s not a job fair” said Shedden, rather it’s more intimate whereby every manufacturer gets to meet and talk with four students individually. The biggest takeaway for students was the opportunity to meet industry professionals who have a stake in the engineering community, and want to give a hands-up to engineering students as they seek to pursue/complete their engineering degree. “Our hope is that industry and students alike saw the value of networking…as there are surprising number of engineering students who are still un/underemployed, and getting their first job offer is vital to their success” Shedden said. He also looks forward to building inroads with organizations like FLATE and Hillsborough Community College’s engineering technology program in leveraging the effectiveness of Kelly’s Engineering Future’s Project that matches recent and underemployed engineering graduates with local manufacturers. “Many of our customers are looking to hire someone with hands-on experience” said Shedden. To that effect, he sees a promising opportunity to work with FLATE and the Engineering Program at HCC in hiring ET graduates…a win-win situation for students and prospective employees/manufacturers.

For more information on Kelly Engineering Resources contact Engineering Products Manager, James Shedden at james.shedden@kellyengineering.com/813.880.9306. For a portfolio of FLATE’s industry-education partnership resources refer to the FLATE Partnership Best Practices Guide at http://fl-ate.org/flip/BP/Partnership-2015, or contact Dr. Marilyn Barger, Executive Director of FLATE at barger@fl-ate.org.