LIFT Learning Lab Tours Give Detroit Students a Look at Advanced Manufacturing

LIFT recently partnered with Atlantic Impact to provide groups of Detroit high school students the opportunity to tour the LIFT Learning Lab and get a first-hand look at the world of advanced manufacturing.

Students from Western International High School, Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, Martin Luther King, Jr. High School, and Detroit Collegiate Prep at Northwestern each spent time at LIFT’s Detroit headquarters for tours and meetings with LIFT’s engineers and educators.

The groups began the day with introductions to CNC and Welding Certification programs being run at LIFT to give them students a better understanding of what those jobs entailed and what the career paths looked like.

The students then moved on to a hands-on Manufacturing Technician Training Activity I the Learning Lab, followed by lunch and a tour of the LIFT High-Bay and introduction to the full-scale research and development equipment used by LIFT and its member companies each day.

Atlantic Impact is a leader in city-centered field trips and globally immersive travel for students designing experiential trips that span neighborhood boundaries, deepen students’ networks, and spark educational curiosity.

The tours were supported by a grant from the Skillman Foundation for LIFT to provide on-site immersion activities to introduce local middle and high school students to the LIFT IGNITE: Mastering Manufacturing curriculum and the project-based learning it offers.

Developed by a national partnership led by LIFT, and supported by funding from the Department of Defense, “IGNITE: Mastering Manufacturing” is a three-year foundational competency-based educational program for the “multi-skilled technician” needed in today’s workplace. The new curriculum will introduce students to advanced manufacturing materials, processes and systems through on-line, interactive, multimedia and project-based learning built around real industry challenges.

The LIFT Learning Lab is a unique, immersive learning environment housed in LIFT’s nationally-recognized applied research and development facility with a variety of learning spaces including a Fundamental Manufacturing Skills Development Lab, Online Lab, CNC Operations and Welding Technicians Training Centers.

For more information on the LIFT Learning Lab, visit www.lift.technology/learninglab.