Marketing Manufacturing Using The Nsf Funded Regional Center For Next Generation Manufacturing

The Connecticut Community College’s College of Technology with support from the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technology Education Grants (ATE #0402494) established a Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing (RCNGM). The RCNGM’s goals and objectives included implementing a marketing campaign for careers in manufacturing. This paper will identify specific activities that the RCNGM Center co-sponsored with its academic, business and government partners as well as professional associations that addressed the marketing of careers in manufacturing as well as recruitment and retention strategies for under represented populations. A highlight of this paper will be the state-wide Manufacture Your Future Symposium cosponsored with the CT Business and Industry Association in May 16-17, 2006. Over 3500 high school students attended the symposium that included school districts from throughout CT. The symposium featured a next generation manufacturing company with 10 pods demonstrating manufacturing processes beginning with the design of a manufactured key chain using CAD to the actual engraving of the part with a laser. Two additional breakout areas were part of the symposium and included a section on higher education that showcased 18 higher education organizations and several educational initiatives. A second section hosted 20 manufacturing company exhibits where students observed a variety of manufacturing products made in CT and also received numerous free samples. Finally, there was an exterior lobby entry where a number of engaging demonstrations were held including a moving robot; a submarine from Electric Boat; guitars from Kamatics and a space launch rocket. Cash donations from industry, government, educational and professional organizations totaled over $175,000. In addition, inkind donations surpassed $250,000 and included time donated by a rigger company to transport the manufacturing equipment from the participating manufacturing companies to the CT Convention Center. The symposium had an extensive pre and post evaluation plan that was completed by over 1800 students and their teachers. The results of these surveys will be presented and discussed as well as a suggested operational plan for adapting and implementing a similar event in another region or state. Introduction: The Connecticut College of Technology (COT) is a virtual college that encompasses the entire state and includes the 12 community colleges that make up the public community college system, six private and public universities and secondary schools throughout Connecticut. (see Diagram 1) The COT was created by the State legislature, Public Law 95-04, with the objective of establishing a seamless pathway in engineering and technology between technical high schools, community colleges and Baccalaureate awarding colleges and universities. Although the COT always included all 12 public community colleges in Connecticut, only two (2) four-year colleges/universities, the School of Engineering at the University of CT and the School of Technology at Central Connecticut State University were partners in the COT’s initial design and implementation. The COT subsequently expanded to include four (4) for a total of six (6) receiving colleges/universities. These additional four partners include the Schools of Engineering at the University of Hartford, Fairfield University, the University of New Haven and Charter Oak State College. Diagram 1: Map of Connecticut’s Community Colleges’ College of Technology Locations The COT is now in its 10th year of operation and is administered by a state director who reports to the Chief Academic Officer of the Community College System. All of the partner institutions have Site Coordinators, which include the twelve community college campuses, who participate in a statewide COT site coordinators council. The council meets monthly to discuss/act upon such topics as student recruitment, retention, outreach and overall program/curriculum enhancement. The COT has two pathways, one in engineering and a second one in technology including technology education for K-12 teachers. The students can complete credit certificates as well as two-year Associate Degrees that articulate seamlessly with the schools of engineering and technology in six universities and colleges. Our stakeholders, administrators, directors, technology faculty members, and site coordinators can quickly respond to the changing needs of local industry by creating, approving and implementing new, industry-driven curriculum within a matter of months. The COT has received several National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education (ATE) grants that have developed innovative curriculum, provided faculty development including industry externships and provided student scholarships through the NSF CSEMS scholarship initiative. In addition, COT stakeholders have fostered a close working relationship with government agencies such as the Office of Workforce Development, the Department of Economic Development; professional associations such as the Society of Manufacturing; military and defense organizations including the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology and its’ National Air Force Leadership Institute. In addition, the COT has partnered with the CT Business and Industry Association on several grants and most recently was successful in receiving a National Science Foundation grant to establish a Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing. The Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA), the largest statewide business association in Connecticut and one of the largest in the country and its Education Foundation has been a partner of the College of Technology for over 10 years, participating in numerous initiatives including several NSF grant proposals. Together with the COT and the RCNGM, numerous outreach programs in collaboration with Connecticut’s manufacturing industries have been implemented. In 2004, the Connecticut’s Community Colleges College of Technology (COT) was the recipient of a National Science Foundation funded Advanced Technology Education Regional Center, called the Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing, (COT-RCNGM). CBIA serves as the statewide business and industry partner for the Regional Center on Next Generation Manufacturing under the College of Technology (COT) in Connecticut’s community colleges. The goals and objectives of the COT-RCNGM include developing new programs and curriculum in next generation manufacturing; providing faculty professional development; recruiting and retaining a diverse population of students; developing online, hybrid delivery of technology and engineering education; and establishing longitudinal studies to evaluate work place needs and satisfaction with graduates from Connecticut’s educational institutions. In addition, the COTRCNGM in collaboration with CBIA, was responsible for developing and implementing an aggressive marketing campaign that targeted high school students and young adults with the objective of recruiting them for careers in manufacturing. This paper will focus on the marketing campaign that has been successfully implemented. In particular, this paper will provide a detailed analysis of a statewide, three day, “ Manufacture Your Future Symposium” that involved manufacturing associations, government agencies, higher education institutions including the COT partners; outreach initiatives; industry and over 3500 high school and middle school students and their teachers. Rationale and Background: There is a significant need for highly skilled people to support Connecticut’s growing manufacturing workforce which includes aerospace, biomedical and engineering based companies. New technologies and new products require very different skill sets than those expected of manufacturing employees in the past. Schools and colleges must address these changing skill requirements and work more collaboratively with local businesses in order to produce a new generation of manufacturing workers. The 2005 “Labor Day Report” of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) warns of a “looming skills shortage in manufacturing” as low skill jobs go overseas and high performing workplaces necessitate manufacturing employees who are competitive in the global economy . Jobs requiring strong math, science and technical skills to support high end, precision products are the only manufacturing jobs that will continue to grow in Connecticut. There are currently 5,280 manufacturing businesses in the state, employing 14 percent of the private sector workforce. Connecticut ranks 20th in the nation in production and exported $8.6 billion in manufactured goods in 2004. In 2004 CBIA conducted a “Survey of Current and Future Manufacturing Jobs in Connecticut” for the NGM Center. Manufacturers identified tool and die makers, CNC programmers and technicians, engineers, and CAD/CAM workers as “extremely difficult” to fill positions. Forty-one percent of respondents cited entry-level production workers as “very” or “somewhat” difficult to fill. Only 9% of companies indicated that they intend to eliminate positions over the next five years. A 2005 survey of all Connecticut businesses conducted by CBIA similarly reported that the most difficult to fill positions in the entire state are skilled machinists and other manufacturing jobs. 4 Thus, despite a net loss of manufacturing jobs over the last decade, many high skill, high wage jobs continue to go unfilled, offering tremendous opportunities for those with the requisite academic and employability skills. Productivity has increased, due to the implementation of new technologies and lean manufacturing techniques, but the need for skilled workers remains as companies have re-tooled themselves for new business opportunities. Manufacturers in Connecticut and throughout the country are expressing great concern that they will not have an adequat