Guest blog post by Dr. Marilyn Barger, Principal Investigator & Executive Director, Florida Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence (FLATE)

Manufacturing Day (MFG DAY)  is a "big deal" in Florida and for the Florida Advanced Technological Education Center (FLATE).  Manufacturers all across the state have enthusiastically and energetically embraced this national effort to broadcast manufacturing industry's good news: "A career in manufacturing is good for you and your community. The work is interesting, challenging and the pay is great."  FLATE’s mission is to prepare and educate the manufacturing workforce in Florida, and MFG DAY “Made in Florida” tours is one of our strategies.

In October 2015, Florida's manufacturers provided tours for thousands of students at high-tech manufacturing facilities. These student tours play an important role in promoting positive manufacturing awareness, and are helping make the advanced manufacturing career and college connection for Florida middle and high school students. FLATE is the National Science Foundation Regional Center of Excellence that supports manufacturing education in Florida.  FLATE has MFG DAY partnerships involving over 100 Florida manufacturers, Florida's Regional Manufacturers Associations (RMAs), the Manufacturers Association of Florida, Florida TRADE, the Able Trust, middle and high school educators and administrators, career academies,  public and private schools, home schools, and parents.  These partners join forces and resources to present a positive image for manufacturing and promote college and career pathways in engineering and advanced technology.

MFG DAY tours serve as an effective mechanism to expose students to the real world of manufacturing and get students excited about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) career opportunities. Touring students are provided with an up-close, ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at high-tech manufacturing operations. These activities lend relevance to STEM-based concepts learned in the classroom. FLATE provides an eclectic array of resources for educators that tie manufacturing to STEM disciplines, which is an important component for making manufacturing “stick” in the minds of students. For immediate impact, over 80% percent of survey responses received from students after taking a tour agreed "The tour helped me understand the use of STEM in industry." As students develop abstract skills that promote their problem-solving abilities, the tangible exposure to complicated manufacturing situations where problem-solving challenges are a way of life provides the important synapse connections between "book learning" and "real life." 

MFG DAY student tours are one strategy FLATE uses under its ‘Made in Florida’ recruitment and outreach portfolio of best practices which we believe is making the desired impact: to recruit more youth to high-skilled careers in manufacturing. For example, Roy Sweatman, President of Southern Manufacturing Technologies (SMT), a major defense industries special components supplier, indicated after a facility tour, he received over twenty calls from parents and students asking about manufacturing and manufacturing careers. SMT now hires students for part-time work, and has new full time employees that were first exposed to SMT on a “Made in Florida” industry tour.

In Florida, MFG DAY is not just a day, or even a month of attention on manufacturing. It is the celebration of year-round effort, spearheaded by FLATE and its partners to promote manufacturing everywhere, to everyone, at every opportunity. FLATE is ecstatic about industry’s eagerness to open its doors to Florida students, show off their fascinating facilities, and also to share the passion of the people who work there. FLATE's National Science Foundation supported “Made in Florida” campaign message is clear: Florida manufacturing is a great place to be!