The SME Education Foundation will support Manufacturing Day on Oct. 5, 2012.

Source: SME Education Foundation

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The SME Education Foundation announced its support of Manufacturing Day, a national grassroots movement created to shine a bright and flattering light on manufacturing, set for Oct. 5, 2012. The effort is sponsored by the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association, International (FMA) and the U.S. Commerce Dept.'s Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

The goal of the sponsors is to rally the manufacturing community to host open houses, public tours, career workshops, and other events to introduce as many people as possible to the new manufacturing reality: clean and lean facilities with highly skilled employees implementing advanced technologies and processes.

The Foundation sees this is an opportunity for educators and parents to visit local employers with children, particularly those in middle school, to get them excited about the career opportunities available for those who have critically important STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills.

“The goal of Manufacturing Day is directly in line with our mission to inspire the nation’s youth to pursue education and careers in manufacturing-related fields. We are eager to lend our support to get the word out, and feel that with enough involvement from the manufacturing community, the impact could be significant,” said Bart A. Aslin, CEO, SME Education Foundation. “You can talk to people all you want to try to change perceptions and stress the importance of a qualified future workforce, but seeing is believing. There is really no better way to get the message across than first-hand exposure.”