The has been introduced. The legislation-introduced by Reps. Tim Ryan (D-OH), Tom Reed (R-NY) and Paul Tonko (D-NY)-is designed to support, develop and implement formal and informal engineering education programs in elementary schools and secondary schools.
LIFT is one of the 14 national Manufacturing USA institutes. Emily DeRocco, LIFT Education and Workforce Director, said, "We applaud Reps. Ryan, Reed and Tonko for introducing this important, bipartisan and common-sense legislation to help reduce the ever-widening skills gap. In order to reduce that gap and secure the industrial manufacturing base in the future, we must continue to provide students with exposure to engineering programs as early as the elementary years and multiple educational pathways through K-12, community and technical colleges and into university engineering degree programs."
As part of its mission, LIFT has invested in more than 40 education and workforce initiatives across the Midwest and nationally, including two directly impacting students in Ryan's Youngstown, OH, district, as well as across the state.
Two examples include the interactive STEM and advanced manufacturing education platform, MakerMinded, and an advanced manufacturing "Teaching Factory" at Youngstown State University.
Makerminded is a digital platform that is connecting Ohio students to leading-edge STEM and advanced manufacturing education experiences, while galvanizing participating students and schools around a student-driven, pro-manufacturing campaign and competition. The platform's goal is to provide students access to programs that will encourage and prepare them for further education and careers in advanced manufacturing. In the program's first eight months, 1,958 students from 205 middle and high schools in Kentucky and Tennessee completed 1,920 advanced manufacturing and STEM activities as part of the MakerMinded platform. The program is rolling out in Ohio for the current school year.
YSU Teaching Factory is led by Youngstown State University Research Foundation (YSURF) to develop the Mahoning Valley Innovation & Commercialization Center (MVICC). This public-private partnership is creating an educational and entrepreneurial hub to share facilities, equipment and instructors-all necessary to build the educated and skilled manufacturing workforce for the region.
LIFT, operated by the American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII) and one of the founding Manufacturing USA institutes, is a public-private partnership dedicated to developing and deploying advanced lightweight metal manufacturing technologies, and implementing education and training programs to better prepare the workforce today and in the future.
For more information contact:
LIFT
1400 Rosa Parks Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48216
313-309-9003
lift.technology