Manufacturing Week Welcomes High School Students and New Welding Program Funding Announced
Fullerton College will recognize Manufacturing Week 2018 in multiple ways with a check presentation of $1 million for the welding program by Assemblywoman Sharron Quirk-Silva on Oct. 4 and by welcoming more than 100 local high school students, counselors and faculty to the college on Oct. 5.
Earlier this summer, Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva advocated on behalf of the Fullerton College welding program and helped secure $1 million in the 2018-2019 state budget. The investment will allow Fullerton College to better equip students with the skills needed to meet the growing needs of the industry. The funds will be used for a variety of upgraded equipment for the students of Fullerton College, as well as upgrades to department facilities.
Friday will be celebrated as Manufacturing Day and will include hands-on demonstrations by instructors in the Fashion Design & Merchandising, Machine Technology, Printing Technology and Welding programs at Fullerton College. The event is co-hosted by Vital Link and the Doing What Matters Strong Workforce Initiative.
“We are excited to host Manufacturing Day again at Fullerton College. This year marks ten years that Fullerton College has hosted Manufacturing Day for local high school students. Many high school students are not aware of the many careers in manufacturing. This event provides an opportunity for Fullerton College to promote awareness and highlight hands-on demonstrations of Machine Technology, Printing Technology, Fashion Design and Welding. Activities will emphasize ‘learn by doing,’” said Kenneth Starkman, Dean, Technology and Engineering at Fullerton College.
Fullerton College is one of many sites across the country that will host events. Manufacturing Day is an annual event during which North American manufacturers, community colleges and universities open their doors to showcase new and emerging technology used in advanced manufacturing.
The goal is to foster interest in manufacturing careers. Manufacturing environments are commonly thought of as factories that employ low or unskilled workers, Manufacturing Day addresses this misperception by giving manufacturers an opportunity to open their doors and show, in a coordinated effort with high schools and colleges what advanced manufacturing is today:
- Advanced Manufacturing includes robotics, flexible hybrid electronics, and smart manufacturing
- The annual average salary of manufacturing workers is more than $77,000
- Manufacturers have the highest job tenure in the private sector
- Over 90 percent of manufacturers provide workers with an array of benefits
New this year are tours of the Fashion Design & Merchandising program. Students will see demonstrations of designing a line, creating and producing patterns along with demonstrations of computer-aided patternmaking, including 3D to the apparel production process of manufacturing a garment. Industrial sewing machines that are used in the apparel production manufacturing process and a digitizer and body scanner will be set up to demonstrate how patternmaking is created.
The Machine Technology Laboratory at Fullerton College provides its students with the opportunity to learn on state-of-the-art equipment demonstrated by the department’s faculty. The demonstrations will include the use of 2,3,4 and 5 axis CNC machining and turning centers along with CMM machines and laser scanning inspection technologies.
Printing Technology Department faculty will provide hands-on demonstrations of many of the printing processes used by local employers, including label making and packaging, screen printing, and digital printing. Additionally, students will tour the Welding program while faculty provide demonstrations of various cutting processes.
Many advanced manufacturing companies will be participating in Manufacturing Day and presenting and conducting hands-on demonstrations on some of the equipment located in the departments.
More information on Manufacturing Day is available at www.mfgday.com.
