Educators in the Workplace - Workshops

Exposing educators to workplace practices by offering workshops and events is a great way to bridge the gap between what educators are teaching and what employers expect from their workers. It's also a great way to learn about career opportunities for students. For instance, in the spring of 2007, more than 100 Connecticut technology, manufacturing high school and community college teachers along with guidance and school counselors participated in 5 workshops which exposed them to advanced technologies and practices in manufacturing. The workshops included:

Connecticut Global Fuel Cell Center - a leader in the research , development and commercial deploymenet of fuel cell engineering and tehcnology, the Center provided leading scientists who talked about the latest in fuel cell devleopment.

General Dynamics' Electric Boat - Electric Boat's 10,000 employees manufacture the nation's newest and most advanced nuclearpowered submarines. The workshop included a tour of the shipyard, presentations of the Electronic Visualization system and viewing the model room.

Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology - Teachers viewed the modeling and simjlation tools that allow students to exercise their imagination in 3D while learning the fundamentals of scienc,e tehcnology, engineering and math.

Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation - Teachers learng about how helicopters (including the Black Hawk) are manufactured from the world's leader.

In May, 2006 , CBIA, in collaboration with Connecticut Industries and with major sponsorship from he Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing, offered a two-day Expo for students ("Manufacture Your Future"). During that Expo, teachers attended faculty workshops on lean manufacturing and green technologies and the programs offered through the Connecticut Community College's Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing.

Workshops on such topics as how to recruit and retain women in high tech fields is another example of how educators can be given the tools they will need to best prepare students for the workplace. If you are an educator interested in forming panel discussions or having a conference on a specific topic, contact your local Chamber of Commerce, business association, or company partner.

For more information on these workshops, contact Mary deManbey, CBIA, demanbem@cbia.com.

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