Industry Continues to Lead the Evolution of Science, Technology Education
Brad Fougere
Canada’s largest industry association is taking concrete actions to guard against the looming skills shortage. Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), as part of its Manufacturing Month initiative, has forged partnerships to deliver 200 secondary and post-secondary schools with the vital tools they need to introduce careers in manufacturing.
Together with software solutions company In-House Solutions and new media production company Edge Factor, CME has identified 200 schools that will receive complimentary subscriptions to the Canadian manufacturing education platform eduFACTOR.org, as well as 10 complimentary seats of Mastercam software for each school.
“Canada’s manufacturing sector will need nearly 400,000 skilled workers by 2020, and to date industry has had a difficult time convincing the next generation that a career in manufacturing is highly valued, highly paid and highly skilled,” says Jayson Myers, president & CEO, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters. “By partnering with Edge Factor and In-House Solutions, we are bringing the tools and the stories necessary to help those responsible for guiding career choices identify the rewarding opportunities a manufacturing career provides.”
The eduFACTOR platform combines the powerful storytelling and educational resources highlighting the in-demand careers Canada’s manufacturing firms struggle to fill. Edge Factor, which specializes in depicting stories of innovative manufacturing processes that alter the lives of the stories’ characters, combines a unique educational component bridging early learning in science, technology and math with real stories of the industrial designers, engineers, CAD/CAM operators and programmers and more.
“Students need to be aware of the fact that they can be part of an industry that defines the future,” says Edge Factor founder Jeremy Bout. Bout’s decade-long career in manufacturing and history of creativity combined to be the driving force behind both the productions and the educational platform, along with Edge Factor’s partners Sandvik Coromant, Mastercam and the Gene Haas Foundation. “This is a great industry to be part of and with the placement of eduFACTOR into 200 Canadian schools, Edge Factor will be working here in our native country to tell the stories of some of the great people we have met from around North America from aerospace to automotive, 3D printing and more.”
In addition to the educational platform subscription donation, industry leading software for the design and production of advanced manufacturing tools and components, Mastercam will be provided to each school through In-House Solutions.
“Organizations like ours must take an active role in helping to shape young talent for this industry,” says In-House Solutions National Sales Manager Kevin Hesch. “Helping Canada remain competitive in the global manufacturing landscape will beneficial for us all.”
Manufacturing Month is CME’s October-long campaign to raise awareness of the current state of advanced manufacturing in Canada. Throughout the month plant tours, educational, community events and a student video contest are held across the country to demonstrate the potential of Canadian industry to the community, to government and to the next generation. Above all, Manufacturing Month events demonstrate the high-tech, highly paid, highly innovative positions a career in the manufacturing sector can offer.
More can be found at www.mfgmonth.ca.
Brad Fougere is a communicator for Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), Canada’s leading voice for matters related to industry and global business www.cme-mec.ca. brad.fougere@cme-mec.ca; 613 238-8888, (x:4228.)
