Celebrating Manufacturing Day 2018

In celebration of Manufacturing Day 2018, LIFT hosted over 100 students from the Henry Ford Academy in Dearborn, Michigan.

Together with IACMI – The Composites Institute, LIFT provided a tour of the facility along with hands-on activities including LIFT Virtual Reality Assembly Line game and the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE)’s PlastiVan.

The students were welcomed in the morning by U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence who spoke about the need for engineers and manufacturers to support the U.S. economy in the future.

“It was great to see the students get excited about the STEM world, especially being exposed to all of the science, math, engineering, and design that goes into a lot of the things that they use every day,” said Dave Graves, director of curriculum, Henry Ford Academy. “The whole day was eye opening for them and I think it got some of them really thinking about what career they want to go into when they grow up.  They were able to follow up the LIFT visit with a tour of the different STEM program at Henry Ford College and, again, I think it got them thinking about the possibilities for their future.”

” I liked the Virtual Reality because it gave me an idea of what it’s like to build a car, use the materials, and work in a manufacturing facility,” said Jamar Reed, a Henry Ford Academy 9^th grader from Detroit.

Manufacturing Day is designed to amplify the voice of individual manufacturers and coordinate a collective chorus of manufacturers with common concerns and challenges. The rallying point for a growing mass movement, MFG DAY empowers manufacturers to come together to address their collective challenges so they can help their communities and future generations thrive.