the community who have collaborated with one another on industry advancements. As a catalyst of benchmarking the industry, SME has advanced the technology by presenting the latest information and communicating what’s possible— both in design and manufacturing. We at SME felt so strongly about attracting and building
a workforce knowledgeable and skilled in using this technol- ogy that we independently undertook the development of the competition. We worked with key SME members from industry and academia who had great expertise with additive and 3D technologies to alter an existing SME college level competition for the high school student. Once our plan was approved by the SkillsUSA state direc- tors, SME began working with states to host the contest in spring 2014. Texas, a key manufacturing state, held the pilot contest with students and a Lockheed Martin engi- neer as the judge. This was followed by a tech- nology demonstration at the national competition to introduce additive manufacturing to SkillsUSA directors, advisors, and competitors.
2015 SkillsUSA Contest Producing a state competition requires signifi cant invest- ments of time, expertise and coordinated effort. To lighten the lift for states to offer a new contest, SME partnered with Stratasys and together provided the technical committee, judges, and printers for all state contests in 2015. Eleven states ran the contest in 2015 with the help of SME and Stratasys. This year marked the fi rst year an ad- ditive manufacturing contest was offered at the National SkillsUSA Competition, with 14 states represented. Students submitted their car designs for the national contest ahead of the contest day. At the national competi- tion, the teams were presented with their printed car design and given time to look over how their CAD design turned out in printed form. They were challenged onsite to evaluate their car designs to identify the best aspects of the design and those that needed improvement. Time was given to make one major improvement to the design. This challenge emphasized the immediacy of design change opportunities with additive manufacturing.
Teams were tested on their knowledge of 3D printing with a written exam. Lastly, they presented their designs and con- cepts to judges. This contest from beginning to end empha- sized teamwork, knowledge of technology, design creativity and opportunity, interpersonal and presentation skills, the iterative process of design and engineering, and the unique advantages of additive technology.
2016 SkillsUSA Contest There was an amazing response to the contest in Louisville with many people hoping their state would pick this contest up. SME continues to be committed to the development of the capabilities of our future workforce. Now that some local and regional contacts have been made through the 2015 Skill- sUSA experience, states will be better equipped to offer and manage the additive manufacturing contest themselves. As the SME and Stratasys team work to build out the national contest,
there is nothing but excitement at the possibilities for expand- ing this contest. We hope students continue to have interest in pursuing new and advanced technologies like additive manufacturing and 3D printing.
SME supports students and the development of the manufacturing workforce in many ways. The SME Education Foundation brings technology and funding to high schools and students throughout the country through its PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) initia- tive and scholarships. Students are invited to SME events to participate in Student Summits and Bright Minds programs. Young manufacturers are recognized in our Annual 30 Under 30 issue of Manufacturing Engineering. The youngest honoree was 14 years old! This sampling of what SME does to build the capabilities of today’s and tomorrow’s workforce is just the beginning. Please visit
www.sme.org/workforce- development to see more.
Pam Hurt. SME Industry Manager, Workforce Development. Pam is responsible for identifying programs, products and services that will help develop the current and future manufacturing workforce. In this role, she works closely with the US Departments of Defense, Commerce, Energy, Education and Labor.
October 2015 |
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